A look back at the 2026 Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim Worlds Thesis Awards ceremony

An evening dedicated to early-career researchers

The award ceremony for the Islam, the Middle East and Muslim Worlds (IMOMM) Thesis Prize took place on Wednesday 16 September at the Arab World Institute, alongside the presentation of the Michel Seurat Prize.

Organised by the GIS Middle East and Muslim Worlds (CNRS) and the Institute for the Study of Islam and Societies of the Muslim World (IISMM – CNRS/EHESS), the IMOMM awards recognise young PhD graduates whose work contributes to the renewal of research on the Middle East and the Muslim worlds. For this year’s awards, 83 applications were assessed and five thematic prizes, two general prizes and two special mentions were awarded.

The ceremony opened in the presence of Anne-Claire Legendre, President of the Arab World Institute, Frédéric Abécassis, Director of GIS MOMM, Philippe Pétriat, director of the IISMM, and Hubert Bazin, president of the Inalco Foundation.

The Inalco Foundation supports young researchers

As a partner in this year’s event, the Inalco Foundation took part in the presentation of several awards.

The Francophone Thesis Prize was awarded to Seçil Doğuç Ergin for her sociology thesis Configurations of adaptation and relational dynamics under a high-security regime.

The Prize for a Thesis in Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures was awarded to Chakib Ararou, a lecturer in Arabic language and literature at INALCO, for his thesis Moroccan Literature and the Mashriq: from the 1920s to the mid-1980s. Texts, editing, mediations.

The RAAMI Prize for Research in the History of Art and Archaeology of the Islamic World, awarded by the French Committee for the History of Art and the Inalco Foundation, was awarded by a tied vote to Yazan Alloujami and Aïda El Khiari.

A first for the Minou Amir-Aslani Prize

This edition was also marked by the first presentation of the Minou Amir-Aslani Prize for Research on Iranian Cultures.

Established in memory of Minou Amir-Aslani, the Foundation that bears her name carries on the legacy of a woman who embodied quiet strength, the passing on of knowledge and high standards. The Minou Amir-Aslani Foundation is delighted to contribute to the growth of Iranian studies through a strategic partnership with the Inalco Foundation, in keeping with this spirit: to encourage knowledge, intercultural dialogue and the building of bridges between the past and the future.

This year marks the first edition of the Minou Amir-Aslani Prize for research on the Iranian world, awarded, following a tied vote by the jury, to Guillaume Beaud and Werner Gaboreau.

Guillaume Beaud was recognised for his political science thesis Ruling Servants. Regime Change and the (Re)Making of the Upper Bureaucracy in Iran and Pakistan, which offers a comparative analysis of the transformations of the senior civil service in Iran and Pakistan. 

Werner Gaboreau received the prize for his thesis From the Traveller’s Eye to the Eyes of Scholars: The Place of Safavid Iran in the Globalisation of Knowledge in the 17th Century, which examines, in particular, scholarly collection practices in Iran and the circulation of Arab-Persian knowledge to Europe in the 17th century.

A ceremony dedicated to research and the dissemination of knowledge

The evening also featured the presentation of the Michel Seurat Prize to Jeanne Gorin, a PhD student at Paris 8 University, as well as by the graduation ceremony for the 2024–2026 cohort of the HoRÉA-Maghreb 3D Doctoral Academy. 

Through its support for these awards and its partnerships, the Inalco Foundation helps to promote the work of young researchers and support research into the languages, societies and civilisations of different regions of the world.