Dissertation and thesis awards
Each year the Graduate School recognizes outstanding doctoral dissertations and master’s theses in four broad academic fields:
- Life Sciences
- Social Sciences, Business, and Education
- Math, Physical Sciences and Engineering
- Humanities and Fine Arts
Awards
- Distinguished Dissertation: Four awards of $500, one in each of the broad fields, and a certificate of recognition will be presented by the Graduate School. In addition, each year, the Non-traditional Dissertation/Capstone Project Award is given. Awardees of the broad fields are eligible to be nominated to compete in the Council of Graduate Schools/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award competition.
- Outstanding Master's Thesis: Four awards of $500, one in each of the broad fields, and a certificate of recognition will be presented by the Graduate School. In addition, each year, the Non-traditional Thesis/Capstone Project Award is given. Awardees are eligible to be nominated to compete in the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools Master’s Thesis award competition.
Academic fields
Life Sciences
- Biostatistics
- Biological and life sciences
- Biomedical sciences
- Chemistry
- Epidemiology
- Physics-biophysics
- Psychobiology
- Pharmaceutical sciences
- Allied health professions
- Nursing
Social Sciences, Business and Education
- Economics
- International relations
- Political science
- Government
- Public policy studies
- Sociology
- Urban studies
- Psychology
- Communications
- Social work
- Business and management
- Education
Math, Physical Sciences and Engineering
- Physics
- Chemistry (excluding biochemistry)
- Environmental sciences
- Mathematics
- Statistics
- Computer sciences
- Engineering
Humanities and Fine Arts
- History
- English
- Art
- Music
- Theater
Nominations
Distinguished Dissertation
VCU school/college deans or their designee may nominate one person in each of the broad fields whose dissertation has been accepted in partial fulfillment of Ph.D. degree requirements during the past academic year (summer through spring). In addition, VCU school/college deans may nominate one person for the Non-traditional Dissertation/Capstone Project Award.
The school/college dean or designee shall submit a nomination dossier to be received no later than June 14, 2024.
The nomination packet consists of:
- A CGS Proquest Distinguished Dissertation Awards nomination form.*
- The 2024 categories are Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering or Social Sciences.
- An abstract of the nominee’s dissertation or capstone/project; not to exceed 10 double-spaced pages. Appendices containing other materials, such as charts, tables, and/or references, may be included as additional pages.
- Three letters of recommendation from the nominee’s faculty advisor, another member of the nominee’s graduate advisory committee, and a third person of the nominee’s choice.
- The nominee’s curriculum vitae; is not to exceed five pages.
*Not required for the Non-traditional Dissertation/Capstone Project Award.
An email with the nomination materials should be submitted to the Graduate School as a single pdf document no later than June 14, 2024, to graddean@vcu.edu. Please indicate the field of competition in the subject line.
Outstanding Thesis
VCU school/college deans or their designee may nominate one person in each of the broad fields whose thesis has been accepted in partial fulfillment of master's degree requirements during the past academic year (summer through spring). In addition, VCU school/college deans may nominate one person for the Non-traditional Thesis/Capstone Project Award.
The school/college dean or designee shall submit a nomination dossier to be received no later than June 14, 2024.
The nomination packet consists of:
- A web link to a thesis or an electronic copy submitted by email.*
- Letters of endorsement from the nominee’s thesis/capstone advisor and the graduate program director or the school/college dean.
- An abstract of the thesis or capstone/project (1-2 pages, double-spaced), prepared by the nominee.
- A brief resume or CV on the nominee (1-2 pages).
*Not required for the Non-traditional Thesis/Capstone Project Award.
An email with the nomination materials should be submitted to the Graduate School as a single pdf document no later than June 14, 2024, to graddean@vcu.edu. Please indicate the field of competition in the subject line.
Evaluation process
Each submission will be reviewed by a faculty committee and will be evaluated on the basis of methodology, substantive quality of the work, and significance to the discipline.