COLEMAN PRIZE
Named in honour of the British Business Historian Donald Coleman, this prize is awarded annually by the Association of Business Historians to recognise excellence in new research in Britain. It is open to PhD dissertations in Business History that either have a British subject or are completed at a British University. The winner will be awarded £500, sponsored by Taylor & Francis Group. Shortlisted finalists will also be eligible to apply for a Francesca Carnevali grant of up to £200 towards their expenses.
The ABH is pleased to announce that the 2027 Coleman Prize is open to PhD dissertations in Business History (broadly defined) that either have a British subject or are completed at a British university. All dissertations completed in the previous two calendar years (2025 and 2026) are eligible. In keeping with the ABH’s broad understanding of business history, applications are strongly encouraged from candidates in economic history, social history, labour history, intellectual history, cultural history, environmental history, the history of science and technology, the history of medicine, or any other subfield.
To apply for the Coleman Prize, supervisors are encouraged to nominate recent PhDs. Self-nominations are also strongly welcomed. Please send a PDF including the title of your PhD dissertation and a brief abstract (up to 2 double-spaced pages) to Dr Zane Jennings at zane.jennings@sas.ac.uk by 19th February 2027. The abstract should make clear the dissertation’s contribution to business history. Longlisted candidates will be requested to submit electronic copies of their dissertations by 19th March 2027. Finalists will be notified by 7th May 2027. It is a condition of eligibility for the Prize that finalists will present their findings in-person at the Association’s annual conference.
In a new special series hosted by the New Books Network, Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo is interviewing prior Coleman Prize winners on their dissertations, some of which have already been published as monographs. More information on these interviews can be found at the link here: https://www.theabh.org/news/2023/8/22/coleman-prize-series-winners-podcast-by-bernardo-btiz-lazo
TONY SLAVEN DOCTORAL WORKSHOP
Named after one of the key founders of the Association of Business Historians and a distinguished international business historian, the aim of the Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop is to further the future growth and development of the discipline of business history by supporting doctoral scholars to attend and present their work at the Association’s Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop.
Each year £2,000 will be made available through the Francesca Carnevali grant, and all Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop presenters will be entitled to apply for this grant up to a maximum of £200 towards their expenses. The grants are designed to help these emerging scholars meet their travel, accommodation and registration costs of attending the workshop. A call for the Slaven Doctoral Workshop will be issued annually alongside the main ABH Annual Conference call for papers.
The ABH is pleased to announce that the 2027 Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop is open to PhD dissertations in Business History (broadly defined). To apply for the workshop, please submit the following documents to Dr Ian Jones at ian.g.jones@sheffield.ac.uk by 26th March 2027. Please use the subject line ‘Tony Slaven Workshop’. Your application should be no more than 4 pages, sent together in a single computer file: 1) a one-page CV; 2) one page stating the name(s) of the student’s supervisor(s), the title of the thesis (a proposed title is fine), the university and department where the student is registered and the date of commencement of thesis registration; 3) an abstract of the work to be presented.
You can find a report of the 2026 workshop here.
FRANCESCA CARNEVALI GRANT
Named after one of the key members of the Association of Business Historians and one of the most talented business and economic historians, Francesca Carnevali. The aim of the grant is to further the future growth and development of the discipline of business history by supporting postgraduate students to attend and present their work at the Association’s Annual Conference. A total of £2,000 will be available each year, divided among students attending and presenting at the conference, up to a maximum of £200. These grants are intended to contribute towards travel, accommodation and/or registration costs.
Students applying for a Francesca Carnevali Travel Grant should send their application form, along with a one-page abstract of their paper, a copy of their CV, and an email/letter from their supervisor confirming they are currently enrolled as a PhD student, to Nicholas Wong, the ABH Treasurer. The application closes on 10th June 2027. The Francesca Carnevali Travel Grant requires applicants to be fully paid-up members of the ABH. Please note that this is a competitive process. Applicants will usually be informed of the outcome of their application by email within 4 weeks. Any queries should be directed to nicholas.d.wong@northumbria.ac.uk
Successful applicants should send their receipts, together with a copy of the “acceptance email” and completed expense form to nicholas.d.wong@northumbria.ac.uk.
THE CORLEY EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS’ PAPER DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
The Corley Early Career Researchers’ Paper Development Workshop began at the 2019 annual conference. It is named in memory of the highly respected business historian Tony Corley and, in its first five years, is supported by an annual donation from the Henley Business School. The aim is to bring together early career researchers in business history with leading scholars in the field, including journal editors, to help develop working papers into publishable articles.