Every other year, the German Association for Australian Studies awards an excellent thesis on an Australian topic written by an author either living in or being a citizen of Germany, Switzerland, or Austria.
Works (Ph.D., M.A., or Diploma theses) submitted in response to our call for proposals should not be older than three years and will be reviewed by a board of advisers which nominates one or more prize winners. Laureates are expected to present their projects either in a short talk on our biennial conferences or in an article for the Australian Studies Journal.
Ausschreibung Förderpreis 2025
(in German)
Past award recipients
2023
Daniel Rothenburg
   Too Much Water:
   Irrigation, Salinity, and Communities in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia. An Environmental History
   Doctoral thesis, Universität Tübingen, 2022
Lena Amberge
   World of Loss:
   Absence and Grief in Australian Climate Fiction
   Master thesis, Universität Potsdam, 2022
2020
Victoria Herche
   The Adolescent Country:
   Re-Imagining Youth and Coming of Age in Contemporary Australian Film
   Doctoral thesis, Universität zu Köln, 2018
Louise Thatcher
   Policing the Border in Early White Australia
   Master thesis, Freie Universität Berlin, 2020
2018
Geoff Rodoreda
   The Mabo Turn in Australian Fiction
   Doctoral thesis, Universität Stuttgart, 2017.
Danielle Norberg
   ‘The Remains of Decency’: 
   Footwear in the Early Australian Settlement
   Bachelor thesis, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, 2016.
2016
Stefanie Affeldt
   Consuming Whiteness: 
   Australian Racism and the ‘White Sugar’ Campaign. 
   Doctoral thesis, Dep. Economics and Social Sciences, Universität Hamburg, 2013.
Roxana Leithold
   Nachhaltige Siedlungsentwicklung als Verdichtungsprozess: 
   Kleinräumige Analysen in der Wachstumsregion Brisbane, Australien
   Master thesis Geography, Universität zu Köln, 2014.
Daniel Rothenburg
   Australischer High Modernism: 
   Merkmale des Hydro-Electric-Engineering-Diskurses anhand des Hume-Staudamms
   Admission thesis for the state examination, History, Universität Tübingen, 2015.
2014
Chrischona Schmidt
   ‚I paint for everyone‘ – the making of Utopia art
   Doctoral thesis, Australian National University, Canberra, 2012.
2012
Mandy Kretzschmar
   Narrating the Other: 
   Cultural Constructions of  the European in the Australian Press. 
   A Qualitative Analysis of the  1920s and 1960s
   Doctoral thesis, Universität Leipzig and Macquarie University, Sydney, 2012.
Fabian Sonneburg
   The Effects of Airport Development on Local Real Estate Markets: 
   Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses for Brisbane, Australia
   Diploma thesis, Universität zu Köln, 2012.
2010
Sibylle Kästner
   Jagende Sammlerinnen und Sammelnde Jägerinnen in  Gegenwart und Vergangenheit: 
   Eine Studie über die Beschaffung tierischer  Beute durch australische Aborigines-Frauen 
   anhand ethnologischer und  ethnohistorischer Quellen
   Doctoral thesis, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, 2008.
Maike Koschorrek
   A Long Way to Reconciliation: 
   Entwicklungen in der australischen Vergangenheitsbewältigung und 
   Aussöhnungspolitik unter  der Howard-Regierung 1996-2007 – Eine Diskursanalyse
   themenrelevanter  Artikel des Bulletin
   Master thesis, Universität Bremen, 2009.
2008
Ulrike Abend
   Australia Talks Back – the Phenomenon of Talkback Radio
   Diplomarbeit, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, 2008.
2006
Andreas Gaile
   Rewriting History: 
   Peter Cary’s Fictional Biography of Australia
   Doctoral thesis, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 2006.
Melanie Fasche
   Glocalization, Gentrification and Creative Business Services: 
   A Case Study of Newtown Sydney
   Diploma thesis, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, 2004.
Claudio Kullmann
   Die Einstellungen zur Monarchie in Australien und  Neuseeland im Vergleich 
   [The Attitudes Towards the Monarchy in Australia  and New Zealand Compared]
   Master thesis, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 2006.
2004
Christof Pforr
   Tourism Public Policy in the Northern Territory of  Australia 
   A Process Facilitating Sustainability? 
   [A Case Study of the  Northern Territory Tourism Development Master Plan]
   Doctoral thesis, Northern Territory University, Darwin, 2003.
2002
Anke Schüttemeyer
   Verdichtete Siedlungsstrukturen in Sydney 
   Lösungsansätze für eine nachhaltige Stadtentwicklung 
   [Compact Urban Form – Aspects of Sustainable Urban Development in Sydney]
   Doctoral thesis, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, 2002.
2000
Margret Carstens
   Indigene Land- und Selbstbestimmungsrechte in  Australien und Kanada unter 
   besonderer Berücksichtigung des  internationalen Rechts 
   [From Native Title to Self-Determination? Indigenous Rights in Australia and Canada. A Legal Comparison]
   Doctoral thesis, Universität Bremen, 1999.