Stephanie Mawson has been awarded the prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize.

Dr Stephanie Mawson is among just 30 researchers selected across the UK to receive the prestigious accolade, which celebrates early-career academics whose work has already achieved international recognition and demonstrates exceptional future promise.

Complex histories

Each prize is worth £100,000 and can be used to advance the winners' ongoing research initiatives.

Dr Mawson was recognised for her research into the history of early modern Southeast Asia. Her work examines regions where indigenous populations successfully evaded or withdrew from colonial rule, creating "zones of refuge" outside state control.

She said: "Winning the Philip Leverhulme Prize is a huge honour, not only for myself but also because it will help the field of early modern Southeast Asian history, which despite being so central to world history has for so long been understudied.

"These complex histories of resistance and persistence not only challenge narratives of colonial domination, but profoundly continue to shape the region today.

"I aim to use the prize to deepen connections with local scholars and communities in the Philippines and Indonesia, to amplify perspectives from across eastern Island Southeast Asia by elevating historical knowledge that remains local and specific."

Support and opportunity

Professor Oleg Benesch, Head of the Department of History, said: “We are thrilled that the ground-breaking work being done by our colleagues has been recognized through these prizes."

“Dr Forster and Dr Mawson are part of a fantastic group of early-career historians here at York, and their projects also reflect the great diversity of research across the Department of History. We are grateful to the Trust for providing this support and opportunity."

Professor Anna Vignoles, Director of the Leverhulme Trust, said: "For a quarter of a century, this scheme has attracted extraordinarily high-calibre researchers, and selecting only thirty winners is always challenging. We are extremely proud to support these researchers through the next stage of their careers."