Khyentse Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by the revered Bhutanese lama, filmmaker, and author Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, announced that it has awarded the 2025 Khyentse Foundation Award for Outstanding PhD Dissertation in Buddhist Studies for Europe to Louise Roche of the École Pratique des Hautes Études – PSL / Centre Asie du Sud-Est (CASE/UMR 8170) in Paris.
“Roche’s dissertation, ‘Une histoire du temple de Banteay Samrae à Angkor,’ [‘A History of the Banteay Samrae Temple at Angkor’] is a groundbreaking contribution to the history of Buddhism in Cambodia,” Khyentse Foundation stated in an announcement shared with BDG. “Through a rigorous and interdisciplinary engagement with a wide range of sources and fields—including history, iconography, and epigraphy—Roche offers an unprecedented analysis of a monument that has long resisted comprehensive scholarly interpretation.
“The dissertation sheds new light on the temple’s ritual functions, religious significance, and place within the broader landscape of 12th-century Cambodian Buddhism. Particularly noteworthy is the extensive and meticulously executed documentation presented in volumes 2 and 3, which provides an invaluable reference point for future scholarship.”
Khyentse Foundation presents the US$8,000 Award for Outstanding PhD Dissertation in Buddhist Studies to authors of exceptional PhD dissertations during the previous two academic years. In order to qualify, the dissertation must be based on original research and should significantly advance understanding of the subject or Buddhist scriptures studied. The award is presented to scholars in Asia and Europe in alternate years.
“It is a great honor for me to have been awarded this year’s Award for Outstanding PhD Dissertation in Buddhist Studies by Khyentse Foundation,” Roche observed. “I am extremely grateful that my work has been recognized by such a prestigious foundation. This award is all the more significant to me that it shines a spotlight on medieval Cambodia, a field that has long remained on the margins within international Buddhist studies.”
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche founded Khyentse Foundation in 2001 with the aim of promoting the Buddha’s teaching and supporting all traditions of Buddhist study and practice. The foundation’s activities include major text preservation and translation projects, support for monastic colleges in Asia, a worldwide scholarship and awards program, development of Buddhist studies at major universities, training and development for Buddhist teachers, and developing new modes of Dharma-inspired education for children.
“Through careful analysis and well-substantiated argumentation, [Roche’s] work not only reconstructs the detailed history of Banteay Samrae but also offers critical insight into royal ideology, spatial organization, and the relationship between kingship and religion during the period of the so-called Mahidharapura dynasty (c. 1080–1220). In so doing, this dissertation marks a major advancement in Southeast Asian art history and Buddhist studies,” Khyentse Foundation added. (Khyentse Foundation)
Khyentse Foundation’s achievements over the last 20 years include more than 15 million pages of Buddhist texts preserved and made available online; education provided for the children of more than 1,000 families; support for Buddhist studies at more than 35 major universities through endowed chairs and professorships, graduate support, and the establishment of Buddhist studies centers; more than US$1 million in sponsorship for Buddhist teacher-training granted; sacred Buddhist texts translated into more than 15 languages, thanks to the efforts of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, the Kumarajiva Project, and the Khyentse Vision Project; over US$1.8 million in funding granted to uphold Buddhism in its mother countries, including grassroots partnerships to revitalize interest in Buddhism in India; more than 2,000 scholarships and awards in recognition of excellence in Buddhist study and practice; support for over 3,000 monks and nuns to maintain the tradition of Buddhist scholarship in a monastic setting; and more than 120 open-access Ashoka and Trisong grants distributed to support Dharma and well-being programs.
Born in Bhutan in 1961, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is the son of Thinley Norbu Rinpoche and was a close student of the Nyingma master Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–91). He is recognized as the third incarnation of the 19th century Tibetan terton Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892), founder of the Khyentse lineage, and the immediate incarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö (1893–1959).
Rinpoche’s projects and initiatives include: Khyentse Foundation, established in 2001 to promote the Buddha’s teaching and support all traditions of Buddhist study and practice; Siddhartha’s Intent, an international collective of Buddhist groups supporting Rinpoche’s Buddhadharma activities by organizing teachings and retreats, distributing and archiving recorded teachings, and transcribing, editing, and translating manuscripts and practice texts; 84000, a non-profit global initiative to translate the words of the Buddha and make them available to all; Lotus Outreach, which directs a range of projects to ensure the education, health, and safety of vulnerable women and children in the developing world; and Lhomon Society, which promotes sustainable development in Bhutan through education.
See more
Related news reports from BDG
Online Dharma: Khyentse Vision Project Announces Live-Streamed Teaching on the Heart Sutra by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Online Dharma: Matthieu Ricard to Give Live-streamed Teaching “Acceptance of the Profound Dharma”
Khyentse Foundation Honors Chagdud Khadro with 2024 Khyentse Fellowship
Khyentse Foundation Accepting Applications for Buddhist Studies Scholarships
Online Dharma: Khyentse Vision Project’s New Virtual Reading Room Goes Live
Sahaja: Siddhartha’s Intent Announces Buddhist-Inspired Art Show in Bodh Gaya
Related features from BDG
Licchavi House, a Refuge for Art, Culture, and the Buddhadharma in Kathmandu
