INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR QUALITY-OF- LIFE STUDIES ��2026 AWARDS

PRESENTATIONS

2027 ISQOLS Awards & Fellowships

Applications welcome for the the following:

• ISQOLS Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship

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• ISQOLS Developing Country Fellowship

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• 2027 ISQOLS Prize for the Best Dissertation on Quality-of-Life, Well-being, and Happiness

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• 2027 Conference Education Grants

2025-2026 ISQOLS

Ruut Veenhoven Award

The Ruut Veenhoven Award recognizes outstanding early-career researchers who have made exceptional contributions to the field of Happiness Studies. Established in 2014 in honor of Professor Ruut Veenhoven (1942–2024)

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2025-2026 ISQOLS

Ruut Veenhoven Award

Kelsey O'Connor

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2025-2026 ISQOLS

Ruut Veenhoven Award

Kelsey O'Connor

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Kelsey O'Connor is a Senior Researcher at STATEC Research in Luxembourg, Associate Editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies, and an active leader in the international well-being research community, serving on the ISQOLS Executive Committee and Board of Directors. A recipient of the 2021 ISQOLS Young Scholar Award, his research seeks to redefine how success and progress are measured. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Southern California and has authored a Cambridge University Press book along with more than 25 scholarly publications appearing in leading journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Human Behaviour, and the World Happiness Report. His work has been widely cited and featured in major international media outlets, while his leadership has helped shape numerous quality-of-life conferences and research initiatives around the world.

2025-2026 ISQOLS

Ruut Veenhoven Award

Martijn Hendriks

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Research Fellow Award�

The Research Fellow Award recognizes scholars who have made substantial contributions to quality-of-life, well-being, and happiness research.

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2026 Research Fellow Award

Martijn Hendriks

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2026 Research Fellow Award Martijn Hendriks

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Martijn Hendriks has been an ISQOLS member since 2014 and has served on the ISQOLS executive board since 2019. Since 2025, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of our ISQOLS journal, Applied Research in Quality of Life, together with Daniel Shek. He is also the deputy director of the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization (EHERO) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. In addition, he serves as a (visiting) associate professor at the University of Johannesburg, an editorial board member of the Journal of Happiness Studies, and as a member of the World Wellbeing Panel

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Distinguished Quality of Life Researcher Award

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This award recognizes a lifetime of exceptional scholarship and leadership in advancing quality-of-life research.

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2026 Distinguished Quality of Life Researcher Award

John Helliwell

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2026 Distinguished Quality-of-Life Researcher Award: John Helliwell

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Academic & Institutional Leadership

• Professor Emeritus of Economics at the Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia (UBC).
• Distinguished Fellow (and former Senior Fellow) of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), where he co-directed the influential program on Social Interactions, Identity, and Well-Being.
• Founding Director and Board Member of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA).
• Member of Canada's National Statistics Council and Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Pioneering Contributions to Quality of Life & Happiness Research

• Co-Editor of the World Happiness Report: Served as a co-editor and lead author of the annual World Happiness Report since its inception in 2012 (alongside Richard Layard and Jeffrey Sachs), helping transform subjective well-being into a key global benchmark for human progress and policy.
• Social Capital & Trust: Pioneered groundbreaking research linking subjective well-being with social capital, trust, identity, and community belonging—demonstrating how strong social ties and high-trust environments directly drive life satisfaction.
• Bridging Economics, Psychology, and Public Policy: Transformed traditional macroeconomic models into frameworks that measure human well-being, collaborating with eminent scholars such as Robert Putnam, Ed Diener, and Daniel Kahneman.

Key Publications

• Well-Being for Public Policy (Oxford University Press, with Ed Diener, Richard Lucas, and Ulrich Schimmack).
• International Differences in Well-Being (Oxford University Press, co-edited with Ed Diener and Daniel Kahneman).
• The Science of Well-Being and numerous policy synthesis chapters for the Global Happiness Policy Report.

Honors and Recognition

• Officer of the Order of Canada (one of Canada's highest civilian honors) for his contributions to economics and well-being research.
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

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Best Annual Applied Research in Quality Of Life (ARQOL) Paper

The basic requirement for eligibility for the Best ARQOL Paper Award is selection of the best paper in the last year of ARQOL.

Best Annual Applied Research in Quality of Life (ARQOL) Paper Award��

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M. Joseph Sirgy, Mohsen Joshanloo & Grace B. Yu

(2025)

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How does work-life conflict influence wellbeing outcomes? A test of a mediating mechanism using data from 33 European countries.

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The Award for the Betterment of the Human Condition

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This award recognizes organizations whose work has made a significant contribution to improving quality of life through research, policy, or practice.

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2026 ISQOLS

Award for the Betterment

of the Human Condition

Thank you to our sponsors and participating organizations!

See you next year in Athens!