The Austrian Prize for Development Research has been awarded every two years since 2013 by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research and the Austrian Agency for Education and Internationalization (OeAD-GmbH). The prize recognizes excellent scientific contributions in the field of development research of established, as well as young scientists.
The Development Prize 2023 was presented on February 27, 2024 in the Audience Hall of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research by Section Head Barbara Weitgruber and OeAD Managing Director Jacob Calice. The main prize-winners were Dr. Karin Fischer and Prof. Walter Sauer. Clemens Bohl received the Junior Researcher’s Prize.
Karin Fischer was honoured for her contribution to the development of the study program "International Development" at the University of Vienna, as well as for her internationally recognized research on global value chains at the Johannes Kepler University Linz.
Walter Sauer received the award for his outstanding contribution to the reappraisal of Austrian colonial history. He is also known for his expertise on the topics of restitution and repatriation. Furthermore, Walter Sauer is further highly recognised for his commitment to the abolition of apartheid policies in the Republic of South Africa.
Clemens Bohl was awarded the Junior Researcher’s Prize for his Master's thesis "Climate (in)justice as a global challenge: A framing analysis of the climate justice movement in Uganda". In his thesis, he offers a critical perspective on postcolonial North-South relations by shedding light on a highly relevant socio-political issue from the perspective of an African country, as Univ.Doc. Andreas Obinger highlighted in his laudatory speech.
Stefanie Lemke, head of the Institute for Development Research and chair of the selection committee for the prizes, delivered the laudatory speech for the two main prizewinners. Other members of the selection jury were Dr. Josef Schmidt, Dr. Maria Dabringer, Dr. Melanie Pichler and Martina Neuwirth.
Source: OeAD
Link to the article on the OeAD website:
https://oead.at/en/expertise/development-cooperation/prize-for-development-research
Picture - from left ro right: Andreas Obrecht, Walter Sauer, Karin Fischer, Stefanie Lemke © Lemke