Every year, the Department of Historical Studies gives a number of prestigious awards to our students. Since 1998 special recognition for History MA theses has taken the form of the Peter Hanák Prize, named in honor of the founding Chair of the History Department, whilst Medieval Studies MA students have been recognised for both their academic progress and their community spirit with awards from the Zvetlana-Mihaela Tanasa Memorial Fund. Prizes for the best MA theses in Eastern Mediterranean Studies and Religious Studies are awarded every year, and Cultural Heritage MA theses are eligible for the Heritage in Danger Award.
The Marsha Siefert PhD Dissertation Award
The Department of Historical Studies (HISU) offers two PhD-programs: a program in Comparative History and one in Late Antique, Medieval and in Early Modern History. In response to the fact that regularly outstanding dissertations emerge in these two programs, the Department decided in 2025 to establish an award to honor these dissertations. This award is not given on a yearly base but upon decision by the departmental dissertation committee to praise a truly exceptional thesis. The award is complimented by USD 500.
The award has been named after Marsha Siefert, Professor Emerita, long-term member of the Department of History at CEU, upon overwhelming demand of the PhD-students at HISU. Professor Siefert has successfully supervised generations of PhD-students. An award in her name is to celebrate a scholar whose work not only exemplifies intellectual breadth, curiosity and integrity but also a colleague who embodies fully the ideal of a compassionate and inspiring teacher and supervisor. The first award was given to Mariya Kiproska for her thesis on “The Role of the Frontier Elites in the Ottoman State-Building Processes: A Case Study on the Mihaloglu Family” and presented to Mariya in June 2025.