The Dan David Prize is an international prize that awards up to nine annual prizes of $300,000 each to early and midcareer scholars and practitioners who study the human past. The Prize is awarded to people who have done outstanding work in this field, and will likely continue to do so.

The Dan David Prize is the flagship project of the Dan David Foundation, an independent charitable organization established and based in Liechtenstein. The Foundation was endowed in 2000 by the late Dan David, an entrepreneur in the field of automated photography with a keen interest in history and archaeology. The Foundation supports research, higher education and breakthrough achievements in the humanities and sciences.

The Prize winners are selected by an annually-changing committee composed of experts in diverse historical fields from around the world. The decision is ratified by the Prize’s  Board, which is also composed of international scholars, along with representatives of the foundation. The names of selection committee members are made public each year after the winners are announced.

Dan David was a Romanian-born Jew who lived through Nazi and Communist persecution in his native country before fleeing to the West and becoming a global business leader and philanthropist. He was passionate about history, archaeology and the study of the past and believed profoundly in the power of knowledge, scholarship and the exchange of ideas to benefit our world.

Professionally, Dan David was a photographer who became an entrepreneur in the field of automated photography. Living between Rome and London, he established or joined multiple companies around the world that manufactured and operated photobooths and other vending equipment in dozens of countries, and developed new technologies in the field.

While the Prize was initially conceived as a “roving” award recognizing achievements in all fields, as it neared its 20th anniversary in 2021, the Foundation decided to reimagine it and make it more impactful. Inspired by Dan David’s passion for history and archaeology, the decision was made to dedicate the award to the study of the past. Of all the fields the Prize previously supported, the humanities faced the most significant challenges, with a notable lack of prizes to celebrate those who were contributing and innovating within the historical fields. The focus also shifted to championing scholars and practitioners earlier in their careers, a point at which an award to support research can be transformational.

When Dan David fled Romania in 1960 following persecution by the Communist regime, he came to Tel Aviv, which was his home for two years. Decades later he became a governor and donor to Tel Aviv University, which he admired not only for its academic excellence but also for its commitment to fostering critical thinking and cultural openness. Seeing these values as the bedrock of democratic ideals and the most promising path towards a more peaceful Middle East, Dan David felt Tel Aviv University was the right place to base the new prize he established.

The team which administers the Prize is based in Tel Aviv, London, Bristol, Newcastle and Vaduz. An independent, international award funded by the Foundation, the Prize maintains an academic affiliation with Tel Aviv University, which provides administrative and scholarly support. For example, the university’s President traditionally serves as the Chairperson of the Prize’s Board, and the Selection Committee usually includes a faculty member.

Prior to 2024, the Prize was awarded in a ceremony at Tel Aviv University, but since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023, the Prize has been awarded outside of Israel.

Tel Aviv University is a public university. As in many other countries (for example, the UK), public universities in Israel receive state funding, but they are not government-controlled and they operate independently under the oversight of the Council for Higher Education.

The faculty and leadership of Israeli universities, and especially Tel Aviv University, have been amongst the sharpest critics of the policies of Israel’s government, both on education and many other issues, including the war in Gaza. In turn, the government frequently attempts to undermine the higher education system and limit its independence and freedom. One reason the Dan David Foundation has publicly criticized the current Israeli government is its attempt to take control of the Council for Higher Education and through it threaten the independence and academic freedom of public universities in Israel.

The Dan David Prize is funded by the Dan David Foundation, an independent charitable organization established and based in Liechtenstein. It is not funded, administered or affiliated with the Israeli government.

The Dan David Foundation has been vocally critical of the actions of the current Israeli government.

In August 2023 the Dan David Foundation joined others throughout Israel taking a stand against the attempted anti-democratic overhaul of the Israeli judiciary. The Foundation decided to not support or participate in any project run by the Israeli government or government-controlled entities. This policy has been consistently maintained since then.The decision did not affect collaborations with public universities in Israel, which are not government-controlled and operate independently under the oversight of the Council for Higher Education.

In parallel, the Foundation invested well over $1 million in 2023-4 to support education programs and other activities run by civil society and non-governmental organizations that seek to promote democratic, liberal and secular values in Israel, focusing in particular on projects that aim to build peace, mutual respect, and understanding between Arabs and Jews.

In November 2025, the Dan David Foundation established a $2 million grants program to support humanitarian aid, civil society, democracy and peace-building initiatives in the wake of the Israel-Gaza war. As of May 2026, the Foundation has distributed $1.6 million in grants to NGOs operating in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank with additional donations planned. Click here for more information on these grants.

Further information about the Foundation, its public stances and donations can be found on the Dan David Foundation website. 

On May 30, 2025, the Dan David Foundation issued the following statement:

“The Dan David Foundation has been following with growing concern and alarm the development of the war in Gaza. We join the many voices in Israel and across the world calling for an immediate end to this conflict, which is causing unbearable suffering and a terrible loss of life. Until a ceasefire is agreed upon by both parties, humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza must not be blocked or restricted, and civilian lives must be protected. We support diplomatic efforts that will lead to an immediate end to hostilities and the return of the hostages, as well as the beginning of a serious diplomatic process for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Further information about the Foundation, its public stances and donations can be found on the Dan David Foundation Website.

Nominees must meet the criteria outlined in the nomination guidelines.

No. The Prize is not limited by age. The Prize is limited by career stage (early/midcareer). Please review the question on career stages for more information.

No. The Dan David Prize welcomes nominations from anywhere in the world.

Yes, people who were nominees in previous years can be nominated again.

The prize is awarded for work in the field of history, broadly defined as the study of the past in relation to humankind. Relevant disciplines include (but are not limited to): history, archaeology, art history, paleontology and science-based approaches to the study of the human past. The Prize is not given for work on the past of the earth or the universe (e.g. geology or astronomy).

No. All those whose work explores and interprets the past can be considered for the Dan David Prize. This includes scholars within academia, but also independent scholars, public historians, museum curators and documentary filmmakers, among others.

These are the minimum and maximum requirements to be considered “early or midcareer” for the purposes of the Prize:

For academic nominees:

Minimum: holding a PhD in hand, as well as having published one book, or a collection of articles related to a major project. In regions or academic fields in which it is common to be an academic researcher without a PhD, nominees may be considered eligible with an MA or equivalent degree, provided their record of research and publication is commensurate with that of a PhD holder in other contexts.

Maximum: Nominees should be no more than 15 years post-PhD, although due allowance will be made for career breaks (e.g. parental and care leave or duties, health-related leave and career changes).

For non-academic nominees:

No higher academic degree is required.

Minimum: having completed at least one major project, such as a book, exhibition, documentary film or public humanities initiative.

Maximum: Nominees should be no more than 15 years after the release of their first significant project (such as a book, major exhibition, film etc.), although due allowance will be made for career breaks (e.g. parental and care leave or duties, health-related leave and career changes).

No, the Dan David Prize does not fund projects, but rather supports individual scholars and practitioners with the goal of encouraging and enabling future work.

While we expect winners to have completed at least one major project, the prize is not given for that project, but rather in recognition of the winner’s overall achievements as well as their potential for future excellence.

Anyone can submit a nomination for the Prize, however self-nominations will not be considered.

The deadline to submit nominations for the 2027 Prize is October 13, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST.

Yes, you may nominate as many candidates as you like.

No. The Prize is an individual award, and your nominee must be one specific person rather than a pair, a group or an institution.

A winner who works as part of a team may choose to use their Prize to fund the work of that team.

To nominate, click here.

You will be required to register to the website, even if you have previously nominated for the Prize.

You are not required to submit any additional documents with your nomination. This field exists to allow you to add any documentation you think may be helpful. Some nominators use it to include a writing sample, while others use it to include information on non-academic projects such as brochures to public history exhibits, links to video files etc. Some nominators have used this field to add a letter of reference, but we neither require nor expect additional letters of reference beyond the information in the nomination form.

No, we regret that we cannot offer individual feedback on nominations.

Prize winners will normally be required to participate in an award ceremony and related programming. Winners will be offered support in finding platforms to disseminate their scholarship to a broad public or to audiences they would not normally reach.

The Prize is transferred as a lump sum. It may be possible to transfer all or part of the award through the winner’s institution, provided the institution does not take any overhead and the winner retains control of the funds.

The Prize money is intended to support the winners’ future research work in a variety of possible ways. These can include (but are not limited to): funding for a specific project, research travel, buying time off teaching or other duties, funding for research assistants, funding of work-related equipment and income for living expenses which will allow winners to focus on their work.

No. The Dan David Prize has no residency requirement.