Labor and Employment Relations Association

LERA Student Awards and Competitions

Deadline: September 15, 2026

James G. Scoville Best Int’l Paper Award — $500 Cash Prize — Sep. 15, 2026

LERA has issued a call for int’l and comparative employment papers either published within the last year or presented at a LERA meeting. The Award, established in conjunction with UMN’s IRC to honor Prof. James G. Scoville, recognizes outstanding international research, and offers a cash prize of $500 and a plaque. Papers written by faculty, students, researchers or researcher/practitioners are invited, though self-nominations will not be considered.

Kochan & Sleigh Best Dissertation Award — $1,000 Prize — Sep. 15, 2026

LERA has established an annual competition for post-doctoral students in the field of industrial relations* or related fields such as history, political science, economics, sociology, etc., as long as they are broadly related to employment relations as reflected in the publications and membership of the LERA. This competition is open to doctoral students who completed their dissertation at an accredited college or university between the dates of January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2026. Dissertations and correspondence must be in the English language. Prizes include both $1000 and a one-year membership in the LERA. Entry forms must be accompanied with electronic copies of your dissertation, your vita/resume, and a letter of nomination from a member of the student’s PhD committee stating why the thesis is especially meritorious.

DCDC Best Student Paper Competition — $300 Cash Prize — Sep. 15, 2026

The Deans, Chairs, and Directors Council sponsors a student paper competition in conjunction with the LERA Annual Meeting. New developments in employment relations, organizational behavior, and social movements call for a closer look at emergent processes, outcomes and organizational forms. The motivation for this special call for papers is to reflect the diversity of theoretical and methodological approaches to researching emergent phenomena in the field. Examples include, but are by no means restricted to, new forms of labor market institutions; diversity in organizations; social movements; and international/transnational actors and organizations. DCDC may offer selected authors the opportunity to present their papers at the LERA Annual Meeting. A monetary award of $300 will be given to the author of the top paper.

LERA/AILR Best Papers Competition (Research Proposals) — Sep. 15, 2026

Editors of Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations (AILR), published by Emerald, have announced a January 15, 2026 deadline for the submission of abstract/paper proposals for the annual competition. Abstract proposals should be no longer than 3 pages (with papers due the following April). Winning papers will be presented and expeditiously refereed for publication in Vol. #32 of AILR.

LERA/ICJI Research Competition (Research Proposals) — Sep. 15, 2026

The Illinois Climate Jobs Institute, based at the University of Illinois, has announced an September 15, 2026 deadline for the submission of research/paper proposals for its annual competition. Abstract proposals should be no longer than 3 pages (with papers due the following April). Winning papers will be presented at the next LERA annual meeting and may be expeditiously refereed for publication.

Find details, submission forms, and nomination guidelines at LERA Deadlines page below.

Submission Forms: http://www.leraweb.org/deadlines