The France-Japan Foundation of EHESS has been awarding a prize once a year since 2016 to reward the scientific excellence and academic value of a master's thesis on Japan from an areal or comparative perspective, regardless of the humanities and social sciences discipline.

Freshly graduated from Faculty of architecture La Cambre Horta, Françoise HALLEZ is the 3rd laureate of the FFJ/Christian Polak Prize for the best master thesis on Japan. Directed by Salvator-John A. LIOTTA, the thesis is entitled La place de l’escalier au Japon. Analyse de cas publics et privés.