doctoral thesis award

URA is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) academic consortium composed of over 94 premier research universities across the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan headquartered in Washington, D.C. supporting government lab management and operation in the national interest.

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URA fosters valuable university research partnerships through membership. URA presents members with research opportunities at national engineering and physics labs, engagement with laboratory leadership and management, and recognition of academic achievements.

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Lab Management

Since 1965 URA has been an integral part of the management of Fermilab, overseeing the management and operations of the lab and bringing the expertise of our 94 member universities to bear on the challenges facing the Fermilab.  URA supports scholars and interns doing research at Fermilab and recognizes outstanding contributions.  In 2007 URA became part of the organization that manages and operates Sandia National Laboratories and since then has worked to support the scientific and technical demands of Sandia by supporting external calibration of science, technology and engineering (ST&E) programs; aid in ST&E programs’ strategic planning; and assist in development of university partnerships and diverse workforce talent.

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Science & Research Policy

URA strives to engender an awareness of the current national science policy issues among its members and early career scientists. This is achieved through a variety of platforms at URA, including science policy and communication training, connecting scientists and policymakers, and policy town halls and workshops. URA’s goal is to facilitate effective science communication to promote the public’s understanding of scientific discoveries, foster trust in scientific institutions, and facilitate informed decision-making by policymakers and the public.

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URA has been a supporter, convener, and integral part of the high energy physics User Community since Fermilab’s creation. Currently approximately seventy-five percent of the university-based users at Fermilab come from URA members. URA members represent the best scientific expertise the nation has to offer. Through our leadership, oversight, and programs URA is committed to ensuring that the full range of expertise from around the Nation and the world contributes to Fermilab’s scientific challenges and the user and affiliate community remains the vital part of the lab’s research base that it has always been.

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URA is investing in STEM workforce development to contribute to the broader national STEM research ecosystem.  Our fellowships, internships, and awards for undergraduate and graduate students and early career scientists serve as a conduit for STEM talent between universities and Fermi and Sandia National Laboratories. URA believes that a skilled workforce drives innovation, enhances national security, maintains technological competitiveness, cultivates future talent, and fosters collaborative research efforts, ultimately contributing to scientific advancement and societal progress.

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Nominations for URA Doctoral Thesis Award Now Closed

The URA Doctoral Thesis Award is one of the honorary awards conferred annually by the Universities Research Association (URA). The award recognizes the most outstanding doctoral thesis based on research conducted at Fermilab or in collaboration with Fermilab scientists.

The URA Doctoral Thesis Award is presented at the June Fermilab Users Meeting.

The awardee will receive $10,000 from URA and present their work at the Users Meeting.

Eligibility

The URA Doctoral Thesis Award Committee will judge each nominated thesis and select the winner based on clarity of presentation, originality, and physics content. To qualify, the thesis must have been submitted in fulfillment of the Ph.D. requirements in the 2023 calendar year, be written in English, and it must have been submitted in electronic form to the Fermilab Publications Office in accordance with Fermilab policy.

Two nomination letters supporting the merits of the thesis being nominated,

• Member of the thesis committee of the Ph.D. granting institution.
• Fermilab scientist who collaborated in the thesis work.

Nominations must be submitted to the chair of the Award Committee Chair, Chris Stoughton ([email protected]) by Friday, April 5, 2024. All nomination material should be sent in electronic form, .pdf preferably.

Call for Nominations

The call for nominations will be issued on January 22, 2024 by the Award Committee Chair, FNAL Chief Research Officer (CRO), and URA.

Notification Process for Selection

By May 6, 2024, the committee chair will inform URA and the CRO of the selected awardee and will subsequently inform the award recipient.

Doctoral Thesis Award Committee

The URA Doctoral Thesis Award Committee members reflect a sufficiently diverse representation of disciplines and expertise to ensure eligible nominees’ appropriate and fair consideration.  The members and chair of the award committee are appointed by the Fermilab Director/CRO.

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Distinguished Dissertation Award

These awards recognize outstanding and exceptional scholarship and research at the doctoral level. Nominations are due by 5 p.m. PST, May 2, 2024. Each recipient will receive an honorarium of $1,000 and will be publicly recognized by the Graduate School.  

Call for Nominations  

The Graduate School is pleased to announce the 2024 Distinguished Dissertation Awards competition in the following four categories:  

• Biological Sciences  
• Humanities and Fine Arts 
• Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering* 
• Social Sciences* 

* CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award 2024 fields of competition  

These awards recognize outstanding and exceptional scholarship and research at the doctoral level. Nominations are due by 5 p.m. PST, May 2, 2024 . Each department can submit only one nomination per category.  

Eligibility  

The effective date of degree award must fall within the period of July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, inclusive, for the nominee selected.  To be eligible, the nominee’s dissertation must be available in the ProQuest database.    

Formatting      

For all documents, fonts are to be no smaller than 11-point and margins no narrower than one inch.  We will strictly observe page-length limits and formatting guidelines.    

Nomination packet materials  

Step 1   

Please provide information about the nominee, the nominating department, etc. via this Microsoft Form .  

Step 2   

Combine the following materials into a single Adobe PDF file, observing the strict page length cap of each component:     

• A non-technical summary (NTS) addressing the purpose, methods, results of the research and its significance within the discipline of this dissertation. An NTS is a concise document that provides a description of the process and its findings in a manner that is both appealing to read and easily understood by the general public. The NTS must not exceed two pages, typed and double-spaced. Please include the nominee’s name and doctoral program on this page.  
• An abstract of the nominee’s dissertation (not to exceed five double-spaced pages).  Appendices containing other material–such as charts, tables, and/or references–may be included as additional pages.  All pages should be numbered, and each should bear the name of the nominee.  
• Three letters of recommendation evaluating the significance and quality of the nominee’s dissertation work. One of these letters is to be from the nominee’s dissertation supervisor, another from a member of the nominee’s dissertation committee, and the third from a person of the nominee’s choice.  
• The nominee’s curriculum vitae (not to exceed five pages) 

Step 3   

The department chair, graduate program advisor, or the graduate program coordinator should submit the complete nomination file c/o [email protected] by the deadline of 5 p.m. PST, May 2, 2024 . This is a firm deadline; in fairness to all nominators, no exceptions or extensions will be granted.   

Please save your file in this format:  

LASTNAMENOMINEE – Nominating Department – Dissertation – [Category] – 2024.pdf    

Ex:  SONG – Astrobiology – Dissertation – Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering – 2024.pdf     

Criteria  

A Graduate School committee will select the award recipients. The nominated dissertations should represent original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to the disciplines.  

Both methodological and substantive quality will be judged. Nominations will be evaluated on the following:  

• Innovation: The degree of innovation, creativity and insight shown by the author.  
• Scope: The scope and importance of the work to the department and to the field.  
• Writing: The effectiveness of the writing (including whether it is written in language that is reasonably understandable to faculty in related disciplines).  

Awards  

Each recipient will receive an honorarium of $1,000 and will be publicly recognized by the Graduate School.  

Council of Graduate Schools Distinguished Dissertation Award national competition   

2024 UW Graduate Schools distinguished dissertation award materials will be forwarded to the Council of Graduate Schools/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award competition when the awardees’ dissertations fall within the current year’s fields of competition as the UW’s institutional nominations for this prestigious recognition.   

The 2024 fields of competition are Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering and Social Sciences. Click here for more details about the CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award and for clarification regarding which fields/disciplines are included under the above categories. 

Address nomination materials c/o:  

Joy Williamson-Lott Dean of The Graduate School [email protected]

Jerry Pangilinan Assistant to the Dean [email protected]

PhD Dissertation Award

About the award for best dissertation in public policy and management.

The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) seeks to recognize emergent scholars in the field by presenting an award for the best PhD dissertation in public policy and management. 

For the 2024 nominations, any dissertation that has been completed in the academic years 2022 - 2023 or 2023 - 2024, and granted a degree in that period, is eligible for consideration. No dissertation that has been completed prior to May 1, 2022 will be accepted and previously submitted dissertations will not be considered. Dissertations from any discipline are acceptable as long as they deal substantively with public policy issues and are nominated by a faculty member from an APPAM institutional member university. The faculty member does not need to be the major adviser or supervisor of the student’s dissertation, but can nominate the dissertation based on the belief that it makes a strong contribution to policy analysis.  

Nominations are now open through July 17, 2024! Access the nomination form  here .

Congratulations to the 2023 Recipient!

Neil Cholli University of Chicago The 2023 PhD Dissertation Award for Best Dissertation in Public Policy and Management will be presented to  Neil Cholli . Cholli received his PhD from University of Chicago in December 2022 where he completed his dissertation Essays on Social Policy Reforms and Human Capital . He is currently serving as a Klarman Fellow at Cornell University. 

Honorable Mentions Andrew King, University of Massachusetts, Boston Opening the Halls of Power: Implementing a Community Organizing Approach to Parent Engagement in New York City's Community Schools Paula Clasing, University of Michigan The Promise of Free Tuition: The Case of Chile  

Prior Winners

2021 - 2022.

Katharine Nelson, Housing Initiative at Penn (HIP) FHA and the Dual Mortgage Delivery System in Philadelphia

Honorable Mentions Hector Blanco, Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Economic Effects of Public Housing Programs Isabelle Cohen, University of California, Berkeley Essays on Public Finance and Development

2020 - 2021

George Zuo, University of Maryland Essays on Bridging Economic and Educational Disparities in America

Honorable Mentions Zachary Bleemer, University of California Berkeley On the Meritocratic Allocation of Higher Education Brandyn Churchill, Vanderbilt University Three Essays in Health Economics Ezra Karger, University of Chicago Essays on the Measurement of Income in Economic Analysis

Jun Li, University of Michigan Medicare Incentives, Payment Reform, and Quality in the Nursing Home Health Care Sector

2019 - 2020

Cody Tuttle, University of Maryland Government Responses to Crime and Racial Inequality

Honorable mentions Theresa Anderson, George Washington University What If Mom Went Back to School? A Mixed Methods Study of Effects and Experiences for Both Generations When Mothers Return to School

Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Harvard University Essays on the Economics of Education

2018 - 2019

Shiran Victoria Shen, Stanford University Political Pollution Cycle: An Inconvenient Truth and How to Break It

Honorable mentions: Patricio Dominiquez Rivera, Inter-American Development Bank and Elizabeth Pérez-Chiqués, CIDE

2017 - 2018

Garima Siwach, University at Albany, State University of New York Impact of Employment Barriers on Individuals with Criminal Records: An Econometric Evaluation of Criminal Records in New York Honorable mentions: Y. Nina Gao, University of Chicago and Allison C. Kelly, University of Washington

2016 - 2017

Mallory Flowers, Georgia Tech School of Public Policy Green Certification Pathways: The Roles of Public Goods, Private Goods and Certification Schemes Honorable mentions: Alan Zarychta, University of Colorado - Boulder

2015 - 2016

Vincent Reina, University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy The Impact of Mobility and Government Rental Subsidies on the Welfare of Households and Affordability of Markets Honorable mentions: Eric Roberts, John Hopkins University and Daniel Sebastian Tello-Trillo, Vanderbilt University

Manasi Deshpande, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Essays on the Effects of Disability Insurance Honorable mentions: Alexander Smith, University of Virginia and Gabriel Cardona-Fox, University of Texas, Austin

Anjali Adukia, Harvard University The Role of Basic Needs in Educational Decisions: Essays in Education and Development Economics Honorable mention: Sara Heller, University of Chicago

Sarah Anzia, University of California, Berkeley Election Timing and the Political Influence of the Organized Honorable mention: Hosung Sohn, University of California, Berkeley

Daeho Kim, Brown University

Essays in Health Economics

Honorable mentions:

Chloe Gibbs, University of Chicago

Christopher Robert, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Kurt Lavetti, University of California-Berkeley

Essays on the Estimation of Prices in Implicit Markets

Cassandra Marie Doll Hart, Northwestern University

Heidi Williams, MIT

Essays on Technological Change in Healthcare Markets

Kristin Seefeldt, University of Michigan

Judith Scott-Clayton, Harvard University JFK School of Government

2008 - 2009

Steven Hemelt, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Essays in Education Policy: Accountability, Achievement, and Access

None recognized for this year

Haitao Yin, University of Pennsylvania

The Environmental and Economic Impacts of Environmental Regulations: The Case of Underground Storage Tank Regulations

Maria Fitzpatrick, University of Virginia

Jeremy Rosner, University of Maryland

Christopher Herbst, University of Maryland-College Park

Effects of Social Policy Reforms and the Economy on Welfare Participation and Employment of Single Mothers

Douglas Carr, University of Kentucky

Stephanie Cellini, University of California-Los Angeles

Kilkon Ko, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

Behaviors of Policy Analysts in Public Investment Decisions: How Policy Analysts Make Decisions

Leah Brooks, University of California-Los Angeles

Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, Northwestern University

Asim Zia, Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy

Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Decision Behaviors in Response to the Inspection and Maintenance Program in the Atlanta Airshed, 1997-2001

Margaret Patrick Haist, University of Kentucky

Sergio Fernandez, University of Georgia

Shreyasi Jha, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Linkages Between Trade and Liberalization and Environmental Policy: Evidence from India

Zhong Yi Tong, University of Maryland

Jesse Levin, University of Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute

Rucker Johnson, University of Michigan

Essays on Urban Spatial Structure, Job Search and Job Mobility

R. Karl Rethemeyer, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Gail Corrado, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Mark Long, University of Michigan

The Effects of Education Policy on College Entry and Household Savings

Brian Jacob, University of Chicago

Katherine Magnuson, Northwestern University

Jacob Hacker, Yale University

Boundary Wars: Political Struggle Over Public and Private Social Benefits in the U.S.

Jean Marie Abraham, Carnegie Mellon University

Shanti Rabindran Gamper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Susanna Loeb, University of Michigan

Economic Analyses of Elementary and Secondary School Resource Provision

Laura J. Dugan, Carnegie Mellon University

Patrick McEwan, Stanford University

Meredith Phillips, Northwestern University

Early Inequalities: The Development of Ethnic Differences in Academic Achievement During Childhood

Karen Baehler, University of Maryland

Carol Silva, University of Rochester

Kevin Volpp, University of Pennsylvania

Market-based Reforms and the Impact on Quality of Care: An Examination of the Quality Impacts of the Transition from Hospital Rate-Setting to Price Competition in New Jersey

Kim Rueben, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Katherine Baicker, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Xavier De Souza Briggs, Harvard University JFK School of Government

Brown Kids in White Suburbs: Housing Mobility, Neighborhood Effects and the Social Capital of Poor Youth

Ingrid Gould Ellen, New York University

Rebecca London, Northwestern University

Sheila E. Murray, University of Maryland-College Park

Two Essays on the Distribution of Education Resources and Outcomes

Johannes M. Bos, New York University Wagner School of Public Service

The Labor Market Value of Remedial Education: Evidence from Time Series Data on an Experimental Program for School Dropouts

Kathryn A. Foster, Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

Special Districts and the Political Economy of Metropolitan Service Delivery

Thomas J. Nechyba, University of Rochester

Fiscal Federalism and Local Public Finance: A General Equilibrium Approach with Voting

Kenneth Langa, University of Chicago Harris School of Policy Studies

Medicaid Cost-Containment in the 1980s: Did It Encourage Interpayer Differences in Hospital Care

Thomas J. Kane, Harvard University JFK School of Government

College Entry by Blacks Since 1970: The Role of Tuition, Financial Aid, Local Economic Conditions and Family Background

About the 2019 Recipient: Shiran Victoria Shen, University of Virginia

Marshall N. Rosenbluth Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award

This award recognizes exceptional early-career scientists who have performed original thesis work of outstanding scientific quality and achievement in the area of plasma physics. The award consists of $2,000, a certificate, and a registration waiver to give an invited talk on the recipient’s doctoral research at the annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics (DPP), and receive the award at the DPP awards banquet.

Rules and eligibility

Nominations will be accepted for any doctoral student of a college or university in the United States or for a United States student abroad who has successfully passed his/her final thesis defense within the preceding 24 months of the current nomination deadline. The work to be considered must have been performed as part of the requirements for a doctoral degree. Nomination packages should include a copy of the candidate's thesis. Nominations will be considered for two review cycles provided the nominator re-certifies the nomination before the next deadline. Updated letters of support may be submitted for the second cycle.

Process and selection

The nomination package should include:

• APS Prizes and Awards nomination form (nominee’s contact information, thesis date).
• Your letter of not more than 1,000 words evaluating the nominee's qualifications for the award.
• At least two, but no more than four, seconding letters of not more than 1000 words each. Primary and seconding letters exceeding 1000 words will not be considered in the evaluation of nominees.
• The nominee's thesis.
• A list of the nominee's publications and presentations related to the thesis.

Selection Committee

• Peng Zhang (Chair)
• Felicie Albert
• Nathaniel Fisch
• Dustin Froula

Establishment and support

This award was established in 1985 (originally as the Simon Ramo Award and formerly as the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Plasma Physics Award) and endowed in 1997 by General Atomics Inc .

Recent recipients

Ian emanuel ochs.

2023 recipient

For developing rigorous constraints on charge extraction across magnetic fields and powerful theorems relating lower hybrid current drive to alpha channeling, and for studying unusual transport effects with diverse applications in multi-species magnetized plasmas.

Alison R. Christopherson

2022 recipient

For theories of fusion alpha heating and metrics to assess proximity to thermonuclear ignition in inertially confined plasmas, and for the development of a novel measurement of hot electron preheat and its spatial distribution in direct-drive laser fusion.

Elizabeth Paul

2021 recipient

For pioneering the development of adjoint methods and application of shape calculus for fusion plasmas, enabling a new derivative-based method of stellarator design.

2020 recipient

For elegantly describing three-wave coupling in plasma modified by oblique magnetic fields, identifying applications including plasma-based laser amplifiers, and adapting quantum field theory to describe plasma physics in the strong-field regime.

2019 recipient

For the development of electron-plasma-based techniques to study two-dimensional vortex dynamics in the presence of strong external flows and for investigation of the stability and self-organization of vortices in strain flows.

The membership of APS is diverse and global, and the nominees and recipients of APS Honors should reflect that diversity so that all are recognized for their impact on our community. Nominations of members belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented in physics, such as women, LGBT+ scientists, scientists who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), disabled scientists, scientists from institutions with limited resources, and scientists from outside the United States, are especially encouraged.

Nominees for and holders of APS Honors (prizes, awards, and fellowship) and official leadership positions are expected to meet standards of professional conduct and integrity as described in the APS Ethics Guidelines . Violations of these standards may disqualify people from consideration or lead to revocation of honors or removal from office.

Join your Society

If you embrace scientific discovery, truth and integrity, partnership, inclusion, and lifelong curiosity, this is your professional home.

• Upcoming 9th BSC Annual Meeting: May 21-24, 2024, Montreal, QC, Canada

Trainee Award: Doctoral Thesis Award

NOMINATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 15

BSC Doctoral Thesis Award

• The nominee must have defended their PhD within the calendar year (Jan. 01 – Dec. 31) preceding the nomination
• The PhD thesis must have clear biophysical focus
• The nominee must have obtained their PhD degree from a doctoral program at a Canadian university

Nomination Process : The DTA nomination must be made by the nominee’s doctoral supervisor (or co-supervisor). Submit a nomination of deserving candidates for the DTA by e-mailing a nomination package to Trushar Patel , chair of the Awards Committee, by the deadline.

The nomination package must include (can be submitted either in English or French):

• A cover letter from the nominator (the doctoral supervisor or co-supervisor) describing the specific contributions of the nominee to the work, and the impact and originality of the doctoral research (2 pages maximum)
• A PDF copy of the thesis
• List of publications (published and submitted) based on the thesis’ materials
• One supporting letter from the external examiner

Adjudication & Presentation: The DTA recipients are chosen by the Awards Committee, based on the following selection criteria:

• Impact of the thesis, as judged from publications and their citations, conference presentations, and knowledge translation (if applicable) based on the doctoral work
• Scientific excellence and originality of the thesis, as judged from the thesis itself, as well as the nomination letter and the supporting letter
• Excellence of presentation of the thesis, as judged from the thesis itself (language clarity, illustrations, etc.)
• The leading role of the nominee in the thesis work, as judged from their contributions to conceptualization, experimental design, paper(s) writing, and collaboration development (if applicable)

The DTA winners are recognized at the Annual meeting of the Biophysical Society of Canada and are given a prize of $500. One award per year is offered. The Biophysical Society of Canada is committed to upholding the principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and will apply these principles to adjudication of this award.

Award Recipients

Itai Sharon

“Structural insights into the biosynthesis and biodegradation of cyanophycin”

Williams Miranda-Delgado

“Uncovering molecular mechanisms in control of cardiac ion channels’ function by combined computer simulations and experiments”

Ernest Awoonor-Williams

“Modelling Covalent Modification of Druggable Cysteines in Enzyme Targets”

The Biophysical Society of Canada has been connecting biophysicists across Canada since 1985 through annual meetings, events, awards and programs to develop, grow and enrich Canadian biophysics research.

Reach Out to the BSC

For more information or questions about the BSC, please contact Claudiu Gradinaru .

For website related questions, please contact Isaac Li .

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JILA Graduate Student Aaron Young Wins 2024 Deborah Jin Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Atomic, Molecular, or Optical Physics

JILA graduate student Aaron Young wins the 2024 Deborah Jin Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Atomic, Molecular, or Optical Physics by the American Physical Society (APS)

Aaron Young, a recently graduated Ph.D. student in the lab of JILA Fellow, NIST Physicist, and University of Colorado Boulder Physics Professor Adam Kaufman, has been awarded the prestigious 2024 Deborah Jin Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Atomic, Molecular, or Optical Physics by the American Physical Society (APS) for his work done at JILA. The award was announced in Fort Worth, Texas, at the 2024 55th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (DAMOP). 

The Deborah Jin Award recognizes doctoral thesis research of outstanding quality and achievement in atomic, molecular, or optical physics and encourages effective written and oral presentation of research results. The annual award was established in 1992 and was renamed in 2016 to honor the late Deborah Jin, a JILA Fellow. Finalists are invited to present their research at the annual DAMOP meeting.  The award's endowment, bolstered by a supplemental campaign in 2016, also aims to enhance the diversity of student attendees at the annual DAMOP Meeting.

This prestigious award was given for Young's research on developing a new experimental setup to control and read out systems of many alkaline-earth atoms. By combining the techniques of optical tweezers, precision spectroscopy, and quantum gas microscopy, Young's work provided unprecedented control over many-body quantum systems. This innovative approach has significant implications for quantum simulation and metrology. 

Now, Young is continuing this research as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. Building on his work at JILA, he explores new frontiers in quantum information science, aiming to further understand and manipulate quantum systems for practical applications.  

Written by Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, JILA Science Communicator

Adam Kaufman

Laser Physics

Precision Measurement

Quantum Information Science & Technology

Deborah Jin Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Atomic, Molecular, or Optical Physics, Aaron Young, DAMOP 2024, APS, Awards, Deborah Jin

Doctoral Thesis Completion Awards

A limited number of awards are available each academic term to support doctoral students who are within the last two terms of program completion (term of award plus one additional term). The intention is to assist highly qualified, full-time doctoral students to complete their thesis writing and defence. 

Priority will be given to applicants who identify as Indigenous*

*For the purpose of this award, an Indigenous person is one who is a citizen or member of a First Nations community (Status/Non-Status), Métis, or Inuit as defined in the Canadian Constitution Act 1982. To protect the integrity of Indigenous graduate students eligible for specific funding, those identifying as Indigenous must be verified by the Office of Indigenous Relations at the University of Waterloo through the Indigenous verification process .  

For full eligibility and selection criteria, please visit our  Doctoral Thesis Completion Award  web page. 

Visit our  Doctoral Thesis Completion Award  web page to find a copy of the application form. 

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The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations .

CERN Accelerating science

PhD Thesis Awards

https://cms.cern/content/phd-thesis-awards

Every year, the Ph.D. Thesis Award recognizes and rewards excellence in Ph.D. thesis research. Selections for this prestigious award are made by a committee appointed by the Chair of the Collaboration board for students who submitted their Ph.Ds the previous year between August 1 and July 31 and they are recognized at the CMS week in June. The theses are judged on their content, originality, clarity of writing, and impact within CMS and the high energy physics in general and can be written on any CMS-related work (physics analysis, simulation, computing, detector development, engineering, etc.).

The call for nominations for the CMS PhD Thesis Award is open in October and the awardees announced the following June.

Find out more about our Awardees:

• CMS PhD Thesis Award 2022
• CMS PhD Thesis Award 2021
• CMS PhD Thesis Award 2020
• CMS PhD Thesis Award 2019
• CMS PhD Thesis Award 2018
• Awardees between 2000 and 2017
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Aalto doctoral thesis awards

The Schools grant Aalto University Doctoral Thesis Awards according to the following principles:

• Each school rewards doctoral theses which are among the most meritorious top ten percent of the doctoral theses of the school.
• The awards are granted annually every calendar year.
• The awards granted are 3000 euro each. (In the School of Engineering, 1000 euro.)
• The core criteria for the awards are academic quality, impact and originality.
• The recipients of the awards are selected among the doctoral students / graduated doctors whose doctoral thesis has been approved within the previous calendar year of the award in question.
• Award decisions take into account the statements given by the preliminary examiners and opponents.
• The decisions are made by the Dean of the School on the proposal of the School's Doctoral programme committee.
• Joint Aalto University Certificate of Honour is given to the recipients of the awards.
• The Schools present the awards in a ceremonial event.

The scheme of Aalto University Thesis Awards and the related rewarding criteria are valid from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2025 and concern the recognition of the doctoral theses approved during the years 2021–2024. During the period the scheme is evaluated and revised for continuation if it is deemed appropriate.

The aim is to encourage doctoral students to good performance and to reward the doctoral students at different Aalto University Schools according to uniform principles. In addition to these awards, the Schools may also reward their doctoral students otherwise in accordance with the School's objectives and strategy.

Recipients of the thesis awards

Thesis awards 2024.

(for doctoral theses published in 2023)

School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Rebecca Close, Department of Art and Media : Post-internet queer reproductive work and the fixed capital of fertility – The interface, the network and the viral as themes and modes of artistic response , supervising professor and advisor Mira Kallio-Tavin

Kaisu Savola, Department of Design : ’Disrespectful thoughts about design’ – Social, political and environmental values in Finnish design, 1960–1980 , supervising professor Guy Julier and advisor Pekka Korvenmaa

School of Business

Doctoral thesis awards at the School of Business will be awarded in the autumn 2024.

School of Chemical Engineering

Muhammad Awais, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems : Hyperspectral Imaging and Chemometrics to Investigate the Chemical Wood Modification , supervising professor Lauri Rautkari and thesis advisors Dr. Michael Altgen, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Prof. Mikko Mäkelä, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Dr. Tiina Belt, Natural Resources Institute Finland.

Karl Alexander Henn, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems: Scalable Surface Chemistry for Lignin Modification - Creating Value for a Forest-Based Society , supervising professor and thesis advisor professor Monika Österberg.

Sofia Julin, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems: DNA Origami as a Tool for Assembling Functional Biohybrid Nanomaterials , supervising professor and thesis advisor professor Mauri Kostiainen and thesis advisor assistant professor Veikko Linko, University of Tartu.

School of Electrical Engineering

Henri Hentilä, Department of Information and Communications Engineering. Secret Key Generation for Secure Wireless Internet of Things . Supervising professor and thesis advisor Visa Koivunen.

Lassi Hällström, Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering. Computer simulations for designing green energy solutions . Supervising professor and thesis advisor Ilkka Tittonen.

Henrik Kahanpää, Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering. On atmospheric pressure measurements and dust devils on planet Mars . Supervising professor and thesis advisor Esa Kallio.

Elli Leppänen, Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation. Exploring the complex and diverse world of carbon electrochemistry: Unraveling the interplay between structure-property relationships. Supervising professor and thesis advisor Tomi Laurila.

Alec Wright, Department of Information and Communications Engineering. Neural Modelling of Audio Effects . Supervising professor and thesis advisor Vesa Välimäki.

School of Engineering

Juho Uzkurt Kaljunen, Department of Built Environment. Waste nutrients harvested: Design and evaluation of nitrogen and phosporus recovery processes utilizing membrane contactor and absorption techniques , Supervising professor Anna Mikola

Joonas Lehtovaara, Department of Civil Engineering. Takt production and decentralized decision-making: improving construction production flow with novel planning & control approaches , Supervising professor Olli Seppänen

Zhenkun Li, Department of Civil Engineering. Bridge health condition assessment using instrumented moving vechiles , Supervising professor Weiwei Lin

Milad Omidi, Department of Mechanical Engineering. Material Properties of Planar Lattices , Supervising professor Luc St-Pierre

Malith Prasanna Rupasingha Arachchige, Department of Mechanical Engineering: Combined experimental and numerical study on ice block breakage , Supervising Professor Arttu Polojärvi

School of Science

Kukka-Emilia Huhtinen, Department of Applied Physics: Superconductivity and normal state properties in flat bands , supervising professor and thesis advisor: Professor Päivi Törmä

Lassi Meronen, Department of Computer Science: Uncertainty Quantification in Deep Learning , supervising professor and thesis advisor Professor Arno Solin

Juho Roponen, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis: Computational models for adversarial risk analysis and probabilistic scenario planning , supervising professor and thesis advisor: Professor Ahti Salo

Sebastian Szyller, Department of Computer Science: Ownership and Confidentiality in Machine Learning , supervising professor: Adjunct Professor N. Asokan and thesis advisor: Research Fellow, Dr. Samuel Marchal, WithSecure

Viliam Vaňo, Department of Applied Physics: Designing quantum matter in two dimensions , supervising professor and thesis advisor: Professor Peter Liljeroth

Sorrachai Yingchareonthawornchai, Department of Computer Science: Vertex Connectivity via Local Computation: Breaking Quadratic Time, Poly-logarithmic Max-flows, and Derandomization , supervising professor: Professor Parinya Chalermsook and thesis advisor: Professor Danupon Nanongkai, Max Planck Institute for Informatics and Saarland University, Saksa

Koos Zevenhoven, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering: Unconventional MRI scanner technology and intelligent dynamics , supervising professor: Professor Lauri Parkkonen and thesis advisor: Professor (emer.) Risto Ilmoniemi

Thesis Awards 2023

(for doctoral theses published in 2022)

DA Hella Hernberg: Architects as ‘Mediators’: Socio-political roles in mediating the ‘temporary use’ of vacant spaces, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi DA Ilan Manouach: Estranging Comics – Towards a novel comics praxeology, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi 

Doctoral thesis awards at the School of Business will be awarded in the autumn 2023.

D.Sc. (Tech.) Janne Naapuri: Biocatalytic and chemoenzymatic synthesis of O-heterocycles from allenols, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi D.Sc. (Tech.) Katariina Solin : Nanocellulose Interactions with Protein and Water in Advanced Sensing Systems, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi D.Sc. (Tech.) Anna Vanderbruggen :  Lithium-ion batteries recycling with froth flotation – A study on characterization and liberation strategies, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi

D.Sc. (Tech) Juha Heinonen: High-sensitivity photodiodes using black silicon and induced junction, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi D.Sc. (Tech) Jens Lundell: Towards Robust 6-DoF Multi-Finger Grasping in Clutter with Explicit Scene Understanding, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi D.Sc. (Tech) Grigorii Ptitcyn: On Electromagnetics of Time-Modulated Structures, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi D.Sc. (Tech) Elias Raninen: Contributions to the Theory and Estimation of High-dimensional Covariance Matrices, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi

D.Sc. (Tech) Matias Heino: Susceptibility of global crop production to climate variability and change, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi D.Sc. (Tech) Kaisa Jaalama: 3D geovisualizations in human-centered quality assessments of urban and green spaces — from point clouds to nonabsolute spaces, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi D.Sc. (Tech) Antti Surma-aho: The role of empathy in design practice - Theoretical development and empirical exploration of an integrated model, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi  D.Sc. (Tech) Xiaolei Yuan: Optimization of row-and-rack level airflow management in data centers, Thesis at aaltodoc.aalto.fi

Bayan Karimi, Department of Applied Physics

• Circuit Quantum Thermodynamics - from photonic heat transport to ultra-sensitive nanocalorimetry
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Jukka Pekola

Antonis Matakos, Department of Computer Science

• Social Media for Social Good: Models and Algorithms
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Aristides Gionis

Topi Paananen, Department of Computer Science

• Computational methods for Bayesian model assessment
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Aki Vehtari

Joosef Valli, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• Cognition, Complexity, and the Financial Crisis - The Federal Open Market Committee's Search for a Monetary Policy Strategy
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Henri Schildt

Julian Weigt, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

• Endpoint regularity of maximal functions in higher dimensions
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Juha Kinnunen

Hanna Halme, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering

• Methods for brain–computer interfaces utilizing MEG and motor imagery
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Lauri Parkkonen

D.Sc. (Arch) Ashish Mohite: Speed-Based Additive Manufacturing Technique: Discovery and Exploration of Design Potential of Speed of Deposition in Additive Manufacturing (link to Aaltodoc) DA Henrika Ylirisku: Reorienting Environmental Art Education (link to Aaltodoc)

D.Sc. Moheb Abdelaziz: Nanocomposite with Polarizonic Reflective Coloration: from Fabrication to Function D.Sc. Pelin Altinkaya: Leaching and Recovery of Gold from Low Grade Raw Materials in Cyanide-free Media D.Sc. Imtisal-e-Noor: Waste Heat Driven Membrane Distillation for Industrial Wastewater Treatment D.Sc. Tao Zou: Lignin Nanoparticles: Understanding of Their Properties and Modifications for Versatile Applications

D.Sc. (Tech.) Tuomas Haapala: Microwatt integrated radio transceiver circuits for aggressively duty-cycled wireless networks D.Sc. (Tech.) Robin Rajamäki: Sparse sensor arrays for active sensing – Array configurations and signal processing D.Sc. (Tech.) Sabin Karki: Beam-switching antennas for millimeter-wave communications D.Sc. (Tech.) Mahafugur Rahman: Weak-Grid Tolerant Control Methods for Voltage-Source Converters

D.Sc. (Tech.) Lei Du: Maritime Traffic Risk Analysis in the Northern Baltic Sea from AIS Data D.Sc. (Tech.) Jarkko Laine: Ductile iron modelling and optimisation for mechanically and thermally loaded components D.Sc. (Tech.) Pekka Koivisto: New Aerodynamic Aspects of Aircraft De/Anti- icing fluids D.Sc. (Tech.) Bruno Reinaldo Concalves: A nonlinear modelling approach for corrugated sandwich beams

Valentina Candiani, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

• Computational Approaches in Electrical Impedance Tomography with Applications to Head Imaging
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Nuutti Hyvönen

Antti Moilanen, Department of Applied Physics

• Bose-Einstein Condensation in Plasmonic Lattices
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Päivi Törmä

Robert van der Have, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• Seeking Speed: Managing the Search for Knowledge to Innovate Faster
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Markku Maula

Vikas Verma, Department of Computer Science

• Algorithms for Data-Efficient Training of Deep Neural Networks
• Supervising professor Juho Kannala, thesis advisors Yoshua Bengio, Mila - Quebec AI Institute, Tapani Raiko and Juha Karhunen

Ivan Zubarev, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering

• Developing Machine-learning Methods for the Analysis of Electromagnetic Brain Activity

DA David Muñoz Alcantara: Aesthetic Praxis In Translation - Introduction and Translation of Alberto Híjar Serrano's: Aesthetic Praxis. The Aesthetic Dimension of Liberation (link to Aaltodoc)

Jori Bomanson, Department of Computer Science

• Normalization and Rewriting for Answer Set Programming and Optimization
• Supervising professor Ilkka Niemelä, thesis advisors Martin Gebser, University of Klagenfurt and Tomi Janhunen, Tampere University

Zeerim Cheung, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• Analytically Structured History Approach Using a Relational Database - Essays on the Historical Embeddedness of Strategy Formulation
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Robin Gustafsson

Mohamed Taoufiq Damir, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

• Well-Rounded Lattices and Applications to Physical Layer Security
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Camilla Hollanti

Lauri Himanen, Department of Applied Physics

• Materials Informatics - Augmenting Materials Research with Data-driven Design and Machine Learning
• Supervising professor Patrick Rinke, thesis advisor Adam Foster

Matti Karppa, Department of Computer Science

• On Bilinear Techniques for Similarity Search and Boolean Matrix Multiplication
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Petteri Kaski

Markus Kettunen, Department of Computer Science

• Gradient-Domain Methods for Realistic Image Synthesis
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Jaakko Lehtinen

Antti Mäkinen, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering

• Applications of magnetic-field modeling for hybrid MEG and MRI
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Risto Ilmoniemi

Aaro Väkeväinen, Department of Applied Physics

• Lasing and Bose-Einstein condensation in plasmonic lattices at weak and strong coupling regimes

DA Khalil Klouche: Explorable Information Spaces. Designing Entity Affordances for Fluid Information Exploration (link to Aaltodoc) DA Taneli Luotoniemi: Hyperspatial Interlace. Grasping Four-dimensional Geometry Through Crafted Models (link to Aaltodoc)

Alex Karrila, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

• Conformally invariant scaling limits of random curves and correlations 
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Kalle Kytölä

Jere Mäkinen, Department of Applied Physics

• Dynamics and vortex structures in topological superfluid ³He at ultra-low temperatures and under confinement
• Supervising professor Pertti Hakonen, thesis advisor Vladimir Eltsov

Tuomas Ollikainen, Department of Applied Physics

• Creation and dynamics of topological structures in Bose–Einstein condensates
• Supervising professor Mikko Möttönen, thesis advisor David S. Hall, Amherst College, USA

Teemu Kämäräinen, Department of Computer Science

• Understanding and Optimizing Delay-Sensitive Interactive Mobile Application Systems
• Supervising professor Antti Ylä-Jääski, thesis advisor Matti Siekkinen

Juho Piironen, Department of Computer Science

• Bayesian Predictive Inference and Feature Selection for High-Dimensional Data

Mikael Öhman, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• Design science in operations management: extracting knowledge from maturing designs
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Jan Holmström

DA Sanna Marttila: Infrastructuring for Cultural Commons (link to Aaltodoc)

Abdulmelik Mohammed, Department of Computer Science

• Algorithmic Design of Biomolecular Nanostructures
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Pekka Orponen

Anna Cichonska, Department of Computer Science

• Machine Learning for Systems Pharmacology
• Supervising professor Juho Rousu and thesis advisors Tero Aittokallio, FIMM (Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland) and University of Turku, and Matti Pirinen, FIMM (Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland)

Polina Rozenshtein, Department of Computer Science

• Methods for analyzing temporal networks
• Supervising professor Aristides Gionis and thesis advisor Nikolaj Tatti, F-Secure

Siavash Khajavi, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• Improving Additive Manufacturing Enabled Operations – A Forward Looking Empirical Study
• Supervising professor Jan Holmström and thesis advisor Jouni Partanen

Juulia Suvilehto, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering

• Maintaining social bonds via touching: A cross-cultural study
• Supervising professor Mikko Sams and thesis advisor Lauri Nummenmaa, University of Turku

Alex Westström, Department of Applied Physics

• Majorana and Weyl Modes in Designer Materials
• Supervising professor Christian Flindt and thesis advisor Teemu Ojanen, Tampere University

Tuomas Vanhala, Department of Applied Physics

• Dynamical mean-field theory studies of superfluidity and topological phases in lattice models
• Supervising professor Päivi Törmä and thesis advisor Ari Harju, Varian medical systems

Sampo Hämäläinen, Department of Applied Physics

• Spin-wave excitations in multiferroic heterostructures and CoFeB/YIG bilayers
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Sebastiaan van Dijken

Tom Gustafsson, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

• Finite Element Methods for Contact Problems
• Supervising professor Rolf Stenberg and thesis advisor Juha Videman, University of Lisbon

DA Claudia Garduño García: Freedom as Design (link to Aaltodoc) DA Lena Séraphin: Don Quijote -komplexet och laborationer i fiktionalitet  (link to Aaltodoc) D.Sc. (Arch) Tuija Lind: Rauniot – arvoja ja tekoja. Rauniorestaurointi ja arkeologisten alueiden suunnittelu (link to Aaltodoc)

Lari Koponen, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering

• Implementing advanced transcranial magnetic stimulation technology
• Supervising professor Risto Ilmoniemi and thesis advisors Risto Ilmoniemi, Jaakko Nieminen and Matti Stenroos

Orestis Kostakis, Department of Computer Science

• Advances in Analysing Temporal Data

Ville Liljeström, Department of Applied Physics

• Electrostatic Self-Assembly - From Proteins, Viruses, and Nanoparticles to Functional Materials
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Mauri Kostiainen

Yu Liu, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• Antecedents and Outcomes of Partnering Abroad with Local Firms: Evidence from Cross-border Venture Capital
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Markku Maula

Ilya Nikolaevskiy, Department of Computer Science

• Scalability and Resiliency of Static Routing
• Supervising professor Antti Ylä-Jääski and thesis advisor Andrei Gurtov, Linköping University

Natalie Segercrantz, Department of Applied Physics

• Optoelectronic properties of III-V compounds and alloys
• Supervising professor Filip Tuomisto and thesis advisor Jonatan Slotte

Konstantin Tiurev,   Department of Applied Physics

• Quantum Knots and Monopoles
• Supervising professor Päivi Törmä and thesis advisor Mikko Möttönen

Emanuele Ventura, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

• Geometry of Real Tensors and Phylogenetics
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Alexander Engström

Miika Aittala, Department of Computer Science

• Computational Methods for Capture and Reproduction of Photorealistic Surface Appearance

Enrico Glerean, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering

• Dynamic similarity of brain activity in humans: from single areas to functional networks
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Mikko Sams

Jonne Koski, Department of Applied Physics

• Heat transport, fluctuations, and Maxwell's demon in electronic nanocircuits
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Jukka Pekola

Emmi Ruokokoski, Department of Applied Physics

• Magnetic-Monopole Analogues and Topological Textures in Dilute Bose–Einstein Condensates
• Supervising professor Risto Nieminen, thesis advisor Mikko Möttönen

Jaakko Luttinen, Department of Computer Science

• Bayesian Latent Gaussian Spatio-Temporal Models
• Supervising professor Juha Karhunen, thesis advisor Alexander Ilin

Pekka Töytäri, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• Managing value-based exchange in industrial markets: An organizational capability perspective
• Supervising professor Risto Rajala, thesis advisors Jan Holmström ja Petri Parvinen

Paula Savioja, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

• Evaluating systems usability in complex work – Development of a systemic usability concept to benefit control room design
• Supervising professor Marko Nieminen, thesis advisor Leena Norros, VTT

Atte Aalto, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

• Infinite dimensional systems: passivity and Kalman filter discretization
• Supervising professor Rolf Stenberg, thesis advisor Jarmo Malinen

Riku Ruotsalainen, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• The micro-to-macro problem: the generation of mobilizing frames through idea development conversations
• Supervising professor Matti Vartiainen, thesis advisor Henri Schildt

Mari Ijäs, Department of Applied Physics

• Chemically modified and nanostructured graphene
• Supervising professor Risto Nieminen, thesis advisor Ari Harju

Olli-Pentti Saira, OVL Laboratory

• Electrostatic control of quasiparticle transport in superconducting hybrid
• Supervising professor Jukka Pekola, thesis advisor Mikko Möttönen

Jefrey Lijffijt, Department of Information and Computer Science

• Computational methods for comparison and exploration of event sequences
• Supervising professor Juho Rousu, thesis advisor Heikki Mannila

Billy Bob Brumley, Department of Information and Computer Science

• Covert Timing Channels, Caching, and Cryptography
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Kaisa Nyberg

Allan Perämäki, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

• Numerical Solution of the Real-linear Equations of Electrical Impedance Tomography for Nonsmooth Conductivities
• Supervising professor Olavi Nevanlinna, thesis advisor Marko Huhtanen

Juha Uotila, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• Balancing Exploratory and Exploitative Adaptation: Organizational and Environmental Dynamics
• Supervising professor Markku Maula, thesis advisor Thomas Keil

Antti Hyvärinen, Department of Information and Computer Science

• Grid based propositional satisfiability solving
• Supervising professor Ilkka Niemelä, thesis advisor Tommi Junttila

Joonas Järvinen, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

• Dynamics of ecological interdependences between European paper & pulp and printing & publishing industries, 1950-2005
• Supervising professor and thesis advisor Juha-Antti Lamberg

Jirka Poropudas, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

• Bayesian networks, influence diagrams, and games in simula
• Supervising professor Raimo Hämäläinen, thesis advisor Kai Virtanen
• Published: 7.9.2022
• Updated: 4.6.2024

Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award

Launched in 2016, the Doctoral Dissertation Award is awarded annually to recognize a recent doctoral candidate who has successfully defended and completed his or her Ph.D. dissertation in computer graphics and interactive techniques. Recognizing young researchers who have already made a notable contribution very early during their doctoral study, the award is presented each year at the SIGGRAPH Conference and is accompanied by a plaque, complimentary full conference registration and travel to the award ceremony. Honorable Mentions may also be awarded.

Current Recipient

Zachary Ferguson

For a dissertation which significantly extends the state of the art in physical simulation by presenting new groundbreaking methods to handle contacts in dynamic simulations of rigid and deformable objects

“Provably Robust and Accurate Methods for Rigid and Deformable Simulation with Contact”

ACM SIGGRAPH is pleased to announce Zachary Ferguson as the 2024 recipient of the Outstanding Doctoral Disseration Award. In his dissertation he presents a new method called Incremental Potential Contact (IPC) that handles collisions and contacts in an accurate, efficient and robust way. In contrast to previous approaches, the new method comes with strong theoretical guarantees that safely preventinter-penetration of objects. At the same time the method is of high practical value due to its superior computational efficiency as well as the absence of parameters that require fine tuning.

While the rigid motion and elastic deformation of individual objects under external forces is relatively straightforward to simulate, it remains a challenge to reliably handle the interaction of dynamic objects when they touch or collide. This is due to complex constellations of penetrating objects that need to be resolved in each time step. There is a long tradition of computational approaches to detect and respondto contacts in mechanical simulations. However, state of the art methods usually require the tedious adjustment of several parameters whenever the geometry, material properties, or time steps change, making parameter studies and inverse problem settings (e.g., simulation-based shape optimization) infeasible.

The Incremental Potential Contact method by Zachary Ferguson, in contrast, only has a single parameter that the user can tune to trade compute cost for accuracy. The robustness of the method is unconditional and not affected by this adjustment. The revolutionary method supports notoriously difficult settings with highly complex geometries, sliding friction, co-dimensional objects, extremely high velocities, and long time steps. It has the potential to considerably push the complexity limits of what can be simulated in graphics and computational engineering applications.

The results of Zachary Ferguson’s research are not only of a theoretical nature, as he also develops reference implementations and makes them available to the research community. His software is very successful on GitHub and is used by academic and industrial research groups worldwide.

 The committee also decided to award an honorable mention to Dr. Yu Wang for his outstanding work on exploring alternatives to the standard Laplace operator in geometry processing tasks as well as to Dr. Fangcheng Zhong for his exceptional dissertation in which he develops a Perceptually Realistic Graphics pipeline.

Previous Recipients

• 2023 Cheng Zhang
• 2022 Xue Bin Peng
• 2021 Minchen Li
• 2020 Tzu-Mao Li
• 2019 Lingqi Yan
• 2018 Jun-Yan Zhu
• 2017 Felix Heide
• 2016 Eduardo Simões Lopes Gastal

Honorable Mentions

• 2023 Georg Sperl
• 2022 Yuanming Hu, MIT
• 2021 David B. Lindell
• 2020 Yun Raymond Fei
• 2020 Mina Konakovic Lukovic
• 2019 Angela Dai
• 2019 Hao Su
• 2019 Adriana Schulz
• 2017 Myers Abraham (Abe) Davis
• 2017 Matthew O’Toole
• 2016 Sofien Bouaziz

Nomination Procedure

All doctoral dissertations successfully defended (or thesis accepted) during the calendar year prior to the nomination deadline are eligible for consideration. There is no limit on the number of nominations that can be made from any single institution or advisor. The key criteria used to evaluate the nominations include technical depth, significance of the research contribution, potential impact on theory and practice, and quality of presentation.

The submitted dissertation should be a finalized version. Nominations are welcomed from any country, but only English language versions will be accepted. Nominations are evaluated by the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award Committee . Nominations, including all supporting materials and endorsement letters, are due by January 31 of each year. Click the button below to submit a nomination.

Requirements

• Name, address, phone number, and email address of the nominator
• Name, address, and email address of the candidate
• Suggested citation (maximum of 25 words)
• Nomination statement (maximum of 500 words in length) addressing why the candidate should receive this award
• Copy of the dissertation in pdf format
• The nominee’s vitae
• Endorsement letters: at most three supporting letters could be included from experts in the field

Harvard University Theses, Dissertations, and Prize Papers

The Harvard University Archives ’ collection of theses, dissertations, and prize papers document the wide range of academic research undertaken by Harvard students over the course of the University’s history.

Beyond their value as pieces of original research, these collections document the history of American higher education, chronicling both the growth of Harvard as a major research institution as well as the development of numerous academic fields. They are also an important source of biographical information, offering insight into the academic careers of the authors.

Spanning from the ‘theses and quaestiones’ of the 17th and 18th centuries to the current yearly output of student research, they include both the first Harvard Ph.D. dissertation (by William Byerly, Ph.D . 1873) and the dissertation of the first woman to earn a doctorate from Harvard ( Lorna Myrtle Hodgkinson , Ed.D. 1922).

Other highlights include:

• The collection of Mathematical theses, 1782-1839
• The 1895 Ph.D. dissertation of W.E.B. Du Bois, The suppression of the African slave trade in the United States, 1638-1871
• Ph.D. dissertations of astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (Ph.D. 1925) and physicist John Hasbrouck Van Vleck (Ph.D. 1922)
• Undergraduate honors theses of novelist John Updike (A.B. 1954), filmmaker Terrence Malick (A.B. 1966),  and U.S. poet laureate Tracy Smith (A.B. 1994)
• Undergraduate prize papers and dissertations of philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson (A.B. 1821), George Santayana (Ph.D. 1889), and W.V. Quine (Ph.D. 1932)
• Undergraduate honors theses of U.S. President John F. Kennedy (A.B. 1940) and Chief Justice John Roberts (A.B. 1976)

What does a prize-winning thesis look like?

If you're a Harvard undergraduate writing your own thesis, it can be helpful to review recent prize-winning theses. The Harvard University Archives has made available for digital lending all of the Thomas Hoopes Prize winners from the 2019-2021 academic years.

Accessing These Materials

How to access materials at the Harvard University Archives

How to find and request dissertations, in person or virtually

How to find and request undergraduate honors theses

How to find and request Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize papers

How to find and request Bowdoin Prize papers

• email: Email
• Phone number 617-495-2461

Related Collections

Harvard faculty personal and professional archives, harvard student life collections: arts, sports, politics and social life, access materials at the harvard university archives.

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This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

This research project explores the relationship between race and voting behavior in Brazil.  Despite comprising a majority of the Brazilian population, Brazilians of African descent are rarely elected. Some scholars contend that the racial gap between the electorate and those elected in Brazil is explained by differences in campaign resources while others indicate that voters discriminate against nonwhite political candidates. This project investigates the connection between candidate race and electoral success by focusing on voter behavior.

Project/Outcomes to date: We conducted 50 semi-structured interviews with elected national, state and local level politicians as well as more than 50 semi-structured interviews with nonelected candidates. We have also conducted more than 150 semi-structured interviews with Brazilian voters. Finally, we analyzed public opinion polls on vote-choice and vote intention. 

We report here preliminary findings as they relate to the relationship between candidate race and electoral success. In interviews, politicians and political elites commonly express the view that candidate race affects vote choice.  Their comments suggest that white, as well as nonwhite voters, have a preference for whiteness that leads them to reject nonwhite candidates. Most voters, however, do not claim that candidate race affects how they vote. Among the subset of voters that admit to casting their ballot on the basis of race, most indicate that they voted for nonwhite candidates. Due to growing racial tensions and the rising influence of Brazil’s black movement, racial voting may become more prevalent in the future.

Last Modified: 08/13/2019 Modified by: Andrew Janusz

Please report errors in award information by writing to: [email protected] .

Special Doctoral Awards

The Doctoral School announces a call for applications for special doctoral awards during the second semester of each academic year.

The call is approved by the Doctoral School’s Standing Committee and is open to doctoral degree holders who have obtained a cum laude distinction for the defence of their thesis in the academic year specified in the call.

The awards are judged by a jury appointed by the Doctoral School’s Standing Committee for each area of knowledge and call; the final decision is taken by the Doctoral School's Standing Committee and ratified by the UPC's Governing Council.

The corresponding diplomas are presented at the doctoral degree’s inauguration ceremony the following academic year.

We encourage you to participate in the calls, as they are a way of making your doctoral research visible and sharing your sustained efforts with society.

2024 SPECIAL DOCTORAL AWARDS CALL (2021-2022 GRADUATION YEAR)

2024 provisional list of selected candidates

2024 final list of selected candidates

2024 provisional list of winners

2024 final list of winners

By virtue of the provisions of the Academic Regulations for Doctoral Studies , approved in Governing Council Decision CG/2023/09/08, of 19 December 2023, and the Special Doctoral Award Regulations, Governing Council Decision CG/2020/01/09, of 27 February 2020,

IT IS HEREBY AGREED:

To promote the 2024 call for Special Doctoral Awards for doctoral theses corresponding to the 2021-2022 academic year, in accordance with the following rules and regulations:

LEGAL REGULATIONS

General regulations

The rules contained in this call will be published on the Doctoral School website and will be the sole means of advertising that will be taken into account in calculating deadlines and complying with the procedures established in the call, without prejudice to the interested parties receiving, in a complementary and unofficial manner, communications by e-mail, and any other means of advertising that the UPC deems appropriate for guaranteeing maximum publicity among the candidates in the call. Participants will receive the communications at the e-mail address they provided when they registered.

All participants must accept the rules of the competition in their entirety, as well as the solutions by the organisers of any incidents not foreseen in these rules, in accordance with the criteria that are deemed most suitable.

Tacit acceptance of the rules and exemption from liability

Participating in the competition implies accepting all the rules. The Doctoral School reserves the right to extend or modify these rules and the calendar and even to cancel the competition or declare it void, provided there is a justified cause. If this is the case, any change will be published in the Special Doctoral Awards section of the Doctoral School website and affected candidates will be notified at the e-mail address provided as their contact address for the competition. Any modifications of the rules will come into effect the day after the date of publication. Candidates will have three days to withdraw from the competition or to take appropriate action as a result of the rules being extended or modified. The Doctoral School reserves the right to exclude any candidate who commits fraud or interferes with the smooth running of the competition and its compliance with the regulations.

Personal data protection

In accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679, and Organic Law 3/2018, of 5 December, on personal data protection and the safeguarding of digital rights, the basic information on how personal data processed in this competition is protected is the following:

Barcelona, 12 December 2023

Josep Maria Font Llagunes

Chair of the Standing Committee of the Doctoral School

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Twelve Stanford doctoral students are the newest recipients of Diversity Dissertation Research Opportunity (DDRO) awards from the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE).

DDRO awards funding annually to applicants whose doctoral dissertation research engages aspects of diversity, broadly defined to include culture, socioeconomic background, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, and life experience.

The funding supports the university’s commitment to supporting diversity-related research, and recipients are selected each year by a review committee composed of Stanford faculty and VPGE campus partners. To date, more than 100 doctoral students from over 25 degree programs across Stanford’s seven schools have received DDRO research grants totaling over $500,000.

Meet Elliott Reichardt, 2023 DDRO recipient and PhD student in anthropology, and how DDRO funds help in his research. | Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education

The following students received 2024 DDRO awards:

Noor Amr , Anthropology, School of Humanities and Sciences Church Asylum: Religion, Migration, and the Boundaries of Political Belonging

Camille DeJarnett , Political Science, School of Humanities and Sciences Language Policy Choice and Civic Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Paula Gaither , Classics, School of Humanities and Sciences What Does an Aethiopian Look Like? An Investigation into the Creation, Display, and Function of the Aethiopian-Type in Ancient Roman Art

Marina Johnson , Theater and Performance Studies, School of Humanities and Sciences On This Land: Disruption in Palestinian Theatre from 2015-2025

Rita Kamani-Renedo , Graduate School of Education Imagining Ethnic Studies with and for Racialized Multilingual Newcomer Im/migrant Youth

Leslie Luqueño , Graduate School of Education College Is a Familia Occasion: How Latinx Immigrant Families Navigate the Transition to College

Tamar “Tamri” Matiashvili , Economics, School of Humanities and Sciences Does Diversity Matter? Evidence from First Female Physicians

Lloyd May , Music, School of Humanities and Sciences Centering D/deaf and Disabled Joy in Musical Experiences

Westley Montgomery , Theater and Performance Studies, School of Humanities and Sciences Vox Ex Machina: Race, Gender, and the Voice in Technology

Kenisha Puckett , Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine Exploring Early Implantation Dynamics Using Bioengineered Trophoblast Stem Cells

Kia Turner , Graduate School of Education Letters of Otherwise Worlds: Composing Abolitionist Legal and Educational Futures Through Black Poetic Praxis

Emma Williams-Baron , Sociology, School of Humanities and Sciences Explain Yourself: Harnessing Accountability to Disrupt Motherhood Bias in Hiring

Dissertations in geography and electrical & computer engineering receive Lancaster awards for excellence

Doctoral students S. Shailja and Evan Greenberg have received the Winifred and Louis Lancaster Dissertation Award for their dissertations in electrical and computer engineering and geography, respectively. 

“It is always so exciting to see the amazing research our students are doing in different fields,” said Interim Graduate Dean Leila J. Rupp. “The Lancaster Award recognizes the best of the best, showcasing the diversity of talent across campus.”

Shailja received the mathematics, physical sciences and engineering award for her dissertation, “Reeb graphs for topological connectomics of the human brain.”  Advised by B. S. Manjunath, chair of UCSB’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Shailja builds mathematical tools for modeling neuronal fibers in human brains as geometrical objects in three-dimensional space. Modeling connectivity of the human brain is critical to understanding and treating neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and strokes.

“What an honor,” said Shailja, an incoming postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. “It added to the feeling of accomplishment, marking a spectacular finish to this long journey.” 

For Shailja, the award has additional significance because her mother will make her first trip to the U.S. to attend the commencement ceremony. “I feel so proud that I will be named a Lancaster Dissertation Award winner in front of her. This has made the commencement day very special for us. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been selected from a pool of such talented peers and I felt grateful to the award committee for deeming my thesis worthy of this award.”

Greenberg received the social sciences award for his dissertation, “Remote Sensing of River Mobility: Quantifying the Controls, Timescales, and Stratigraphic Record of River Movement.” His advisor is Vamsi Ganti, who leads the UCSB Surface Processes Group in the Department of Geography. Greenberg’s dissertation focuses on terrestrial geomorphic processes using multi-spectral time series. 

“I'm broadly interested in remote sensing methods and have worked with both multi-spectral and hyper-spectral methods on data handling and correction as well as scientific applications,” said Greenberg, who recently published a paper in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters that presents an account of what drives the migration rates of meandering rivers.

The award includes a $1,000 prize to be presented at the Graduate Division commencement ceremony on June 14. The awardees will also serve as UCSB’s entrants in the national competition sponsored by the Council of Graduate Schools and ProQuest.

Two Lancaster awards are given annually to doctoral degree recipients or candidates from two broad academic areas. The four fields of competition alternate each year, as specified by the National Council of Graduate Schools.  

Debra Herrick Associate Editorial Director (805) 893-2191 [email protected]

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Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

At michigan state university, kellen mcgee wins particle accelerator science and technology doctoral student award.

Kellen McGee, a former graduate research assistant at FRIB, has earned the 2024  Particle Accelerator Science and Technology (PAST) Doctoral Student Award. This is the first time a Michigan State University (MSU) student has received this award.

Presenting the PAST Doctoral Student Award is the  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society . An individual receives this award if their doctoral thesis demonstrates significant technical contributions to the particle accelerator science and technology field. McGee earned the award for her experimental work with novel medium-velocity sub-gigahertz superconducting resonators. These resonators are crucial for continuous-wave operation in hadron linear accelerators (linacs).

While at FRIB, McGee’s focus was on optimizing 644 MHz 5-cell elliptical superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities for the  FRIB400 upgrade .

“Her thesis work was to improve the performance of superconducting cavities for FRIB400 and similar applications and eventually reduce the cost of such facilities,” said Peter Ostroumov, professor of physics at FRIB and in MSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and associate director of the FRIB Accelerator Systems Division.

McGee’s research explored nitrogen N-doping properties in a sub-GHz frequency cavity required for heavy-ion acceleration. Ostroumov said it is intriguing both from a fundamental physics perspective and from the standpoint of maturing the technology for use in an entire production run for a real-world machine.

“Her highly creative and hard work resulted in setting a world-record quality factor for a cavity at the FRIB400 operating gradient,” Ostroumov said.

McGee is now an engineering physicist II at  Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), where she spent time during her graduate studies. She is continuing her work in SRF cavity development. McGee credits MSU and FRIB for preparing her to be a leader in machine construction and commissioning.

“I chose MSU/FRIB for the very unique opportunity to not only study accelerator physics, but to do so in the midst of a facility that was building and commissioning a world-leading superconducting linear accelerator from the ground up,” she said. “Since MSU/FRIB developed the infrastructure to undertake nearly all parts of the construction process, from radio-frequency cavity chemical processing and testing, to full cryomodule assembly and ultimately linac commissioning, I had the rare but incredible opportunity to witness and learn from each of these steps firsthand.”

FRIB provides students with a valuable perspective on machine design, construction, and commissioning. This prepares them to lead upcoming major construction projects, like CERN's Future Circular Collider (FCC-ee). Other projects include the Proton Improvement Plan II (PIP-II) and subsequent accelerator complex upgrades at Fermilab. Students may also be involved in potential future upgrades to FRIB.

McGee will receive the award at the  2024 International Particle Accelerator Conference , 19-24 May, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Michigan State University (MSU) operates the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) as a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), supporting the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics. User facility operation is supported by the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics as one of 28 DOE-SC user facilities.

The  U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science  is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of today’s most pressing challenges. For more information, visit  energy.gov/science .

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Dr. Susan Joy Chester Winner of the 2024 Manhattanville Distinguished Dissertation Research Award

Doctoral Program | Student Spotlights

The Manhattanville University Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership is proud to announce Dr. Susan Joy Chester, Signature Pathway Cohort 12, is the recipient of the 2024 Distinguished Dissertation Research Award

Dissertation title:, from policy to practice: teacher sensemaking of  new york state’s culturally responsive-sustaining  education framework.

Drawing upon Weick's (1995) theory of sensemaking, this qualitative study describes how high school social studies teachers make meaning of culturally responsive-sustaining education as outlined in New York State's CR-SE framework. This study also examined how that sensemaking is reflected in social studies teachers' curricular and pedagogical decisions. Considering the current controversy surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion work in school districts throughout the country, an examination of the issues surrounding implementation of the NYS CR-SE framework was needed. Through semi-structured interviews with 16 high school social studies teachers, I found that factors such as teachers' background and experiences, professional context, policy ambiguity, and discourse around CR-SE, influenced teacher sensemaking and decision making. Teachers expressed that while CR-SE is what good social studies teachers do, teaching has become “a minefield.” Conclusions include recommendations for schools, districts, boards of education and the NYS Education Department.

Susan Chester is the K-12 Supervisor of Humanities in the Eastchester School District, where she oversees English Language Arts and social studies curricula. Previously, she taught 6th and 7th grade social studies and served as the social studies department chair at the Hommocks Middle School in Mamaroneck. She is the president of the Westchester Lower Hudson Council for the Social Studies, a professional organization that supports social studies educators in the region. Susan earned her BA in Anthropology from Binghamton University, her MA in Social Studies Education from the University of South Florida, and her MS in Educational Leadership from Long Island University.

Susan is the daughter of two retired New York City public school teachers and she knew that she wanted to become a teacher from her first day of nursery school. Susan lives in Irvington with her husband David, and their daughter, Miriam.

Congratulations, Susan!

The Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership is designed for practicing and prospective leaders and experienced educators in P-12 and higher education, serving schools, districts, private and independent schools, charter schools, colleges, universities, community organizations, and entrepreneurial endeavors. The Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership consists of 3 pathways and adopts a cohort model enabling students to be part of a dynamic and cohesive community of learners during the EdD program.

Currently enrolled students and doctoral alumni are highly accomplished scholar-practitioners who appreciate and have benefited from the value of having a terminal degree in the field of education.

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About Manhattanville University:

Manhattanville University is a private liberal arts institution dedicated to academic excellence, purposeful education, and social responsibility. For three years in a row, “U.S. News and World Report” has ranked Manhattanville the number one private, non-profit institution in New York among Top Performers of Social Mobility in Regional Universities North. Located 30 miles from New York City on a 100-acre suburban campus in the heart of Westchester County, Manhattanville enables easy access to entertainment offerings, educational resources, and business opportunities for its primarily residential and diverse student body. The university serves more than 1,300 undergraduate students and nearly 1,000 graduate students from more than 44 countries and 33 states. Founded in 1841, the university offers more than 75 undergraduate and graduate areas of study in the arts and sciences, education, nursing and health sciences, business, and creative writing, as well as continuing and executive education programs. Graduate students can choose from more than 70 graduate and certificate programs. Extracurricular offerings include more than 45 clubs and activities and 24 NCAA Division III teams. 

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Qingxiao Zheng defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Qingxiao Zheng successfully defended her dissertation, "Shifting Paradigms in the UX Evaluation of Human-AI Interaction: From Dyadic to Monadic Designs," on May 27.

Her committee included Associate Professor Yun Huang (chair); Mike Yao, professor at the Institute of Communications Research; Associate Professor Yang Wang; and Assistant Professor Nigel Bosch.

Abstract: This dissertation identifies a paradigm shift in the UX evaluation of human-AI interaction. Prior to generative AI, UX research began with examining dyadic interactions between end users and AI, progressively expanding to polyadic interactions, where AI mediates between end users adopting multi-stakeholder perspectives. With generative AI, individuals with minimal AI literacy can become creators, introducing a new modality–monadic interaction–which emphasizes the unity and feedback loop between AI and their users. These users actively participate in defining and refining the AI's functions, allowing both to adapt and evolve. Although humans and AI systems can leverage their respective strengths to achieve better outcomes than either could independently, assessing how well AI aligns with users' values and intentions poses significant challenges, particularly when users' norms deviate from broader societal standards. This dissertation further introduces a UX evaluation framework, called EvalignUX (evaluating alignment of UX), designed to guide the evaluation of the three interaction modalities. The proposed EvalignUX framework can assist UX researchers and design tool makers in addressing the challenges of evaluating AI systems in a responsive fashion.

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