William James Prize
The William James Prize for Contributions to the Study of Consciousness is an award given by the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness.
Each year one prize is awarded for an outstanding published contribution to the empirical or philosophical study of consciousness by a graduate student or postdoctoral scholar within five years of receiving a PhD or other advanced degree.
The prize consists of:
- An award of $1000;
- Invitation to present a plenary address at the next meeting of the ASSC;
- Lifetime membership in the ASSC.
William James Prize Winners (ASSC)
The table below names the most recent winners, recognizing an exceptional published work in the empirical or philosophical research of consciousness by a scholar early in their career.| Year Awarded | Recipient | Title of Winning Contribution |
| 2025 | Abhilash Dwarakanath | "Bistability of prefrontal states gates access to consciousness" |
| 2024 | Shervin Safavi | "Multistability, perceptual value, and internal foraging" |
| 2023 | Elisabeth Parés Pujolràs | "Latent awareness: Early conscious access to motor preparation processes is linked to the readiness potential" |
| 2022 | Ishan Singhal | "Time and time again: a multi-scale hierarchical framework for time-consciousness and timing of cognition" |
| 2021 | Anat Arzi | "Olfactory sniffing signals consciousness in unresponsive patients with brain injuries" |
| 2020 | Jake Quilty-Dunn | "Is Iconic Memory Iconic?" |
| 2019 | Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel | "Towards an unconscious neural reinforcement intervention for common fears" |
| 2018 | Jennifer Windt | Dreaming: A conceptual framework for philosophy of mind and empirical research |
Note: The prize recognizes work published within a specific timeframe of the scholar receiving their advanced degree. The date listed is the year the award was conferred.
The exact year of the first award is not explicitly stated in one place, historical documents indicate the prize was being regularly awarded by the early 2000s. The ASSC website mentions that the 2025 prize was the 22nd edition, which would imply the first award was in 2004.
Papers awarded
- Award for 2016: "" by Satohiro Tajima and colleagues
- Award for 2015: "" by Alexandra Vlassova and colleagues
- Award for 2014: "" by Zhicheng Lin and colleagues
- Award for 2013: " by Aaron Schurger and colleagues
- Award for 2012: "" by Stephen Fleming and colleagues
- Award for 2011: "" by Ian Phillips and colleagues
- Award for 2010: "" by Yann Cojan and colleagues
- Award for 2009: "" Joel Pearson and colleagues
- Award for 2008: "" by Naotsugu Tsuchiya and colleagues
- Award for 2007: "" by Sid Kouider and colleagues
- Award for 2006: "" by Sang-Hun Lee and colleagues
- Award for 2005: "" by Hakwan Lau and colleagues.
- Award for 2004: "" by Steven Laureys and colleagues.