Overview of the Awards Ceremony for 22nd Asia Pacific Research Prize

Overview of the Prize and Selection Process

The Asia Pacific Research Prize was established in 2001 to reward outstanding dissertations written in the field of humanities or social sciences about the Asia Pacific region. The dissertations are written by Japanese, international students and others who have completed post-graduate studies and received doctorates from Japanese graduate schools. This year we invited students who received their doctorates after March 2018 to compete for the prize. This includes students who completed their coursework without degree after March 2018, and then received their doctorates afterward. As a result of the strict selection process conducted by the Selection Committee on the theses recommended and gathered from graduate schools all over Japan, Dr. Hsi-chia Huang’s dissertation, “Central-Local Relations in Contemporary China Revisited: From the Perspective of Regional Administrative Institutions Bridging Centralization and Decentralization” was selected for a main prize. In addition, Dr. Kritdikorn Wongswangpanich’s dissertation, “Sick Kingdom: The Role and Politics of Thai Health Care in the Domination of Bhumibol’s Narrative” and Dr. Nguyen Thi Le’s dissertation, “Childbirth among Ethnic Minority People in Northern Vietnam: Choice and Agency in the Hmong Case” were selected for a Commendation.

Overview of the Awards Ceremony

At the Awards Ceremony on August 3 2023, the prizes were bestowed on the winners, Dr. Hsi-chia Huang, Dr. Kritdikorn Wongswangpanich and Dr. Nguyen Thi Le by Awaji Conference Representative Director Makoto Iokibe. Dr. Huang received an award certificate and a prize of 1 million yen, and Dr. Wongswangpanich and Dr. Nguyen received an award certificate and a prize of 200,000 yen. After each winner gave a speech, the Chairman of the Selection Committee, Dr. Yutaka Katayama explained how and why the selections were made.