CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards

Sponsored jointly by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, the CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards are made each year to individuals who, in the opinion of the award committee, have completed doctoral dissertations representing original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to the discipline.

Value

Two CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards, each consisting of an award of $2,000 and a certificate of recognition, will be presented at the CGS Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon in December 2025, in Washington, DC. Reasonable travel expenses of award recipients will be covered. 

2025 Fields of Competition

  • Biological Sciences/Life Sciences - biology; botany; zoology; ecology;
    embryology; entomology; genetics; nutrition; plant pathology; plant physiology;
    anatomy; biochemistry; biophysics; microbiology; pathology; pharmacology;
    physiology; and related fields (health sciences). Also included are agriculture,
    forestry, zoology; and related fields.
  • Humanities and Fine Arts - history; philosophy; language; linguistics;
    literature; archaeology; jurisprudence; the history, theory and criticism of the
    arts; ethics; comparative religion; and those aspects of the social sciences that
    employ historical or philosophical approaches.
If a dissertation is multi- or interdisciplinary in nature, a significant portion of the work must be comprised by at least one of the 2025 fields of competition.

Nomination Procedure

SGPS will accept one nomination per graduate program or graduate Faculty. Please ensure that the candidate is aware of their nomination for the award. 

A nomination package must include the following (in PDF format):

  • An abstract of the candidate's dissertation (not to exceed five (5) double-spaced pages). Appendices containing nontextual material, such as charts or tables, may be included as additional pages (not to exceed 5 double-spaced pages). 
  • Three (3) letters of recommendation (no page limit) evaluating the significance and quality of the candidate's dissertation work. One of these letters must be from the candidate's dissertation supervisor, another from a member of the candidate's dissertation committee, and another from a person of the candidate's choice. 
  • The candidate's curriculum vitae (not to exceed five (5) pages)

Submitting Nominations to SGPS

The deadline for submissions to SGPS is Friday, May 16, 2025. Please send the complete nomination file (single PDF) electronically to Alli McDonald (amcdon72@uwo.ca).  

SGPS will consider all nominations received by the May deadline and forward one nomination for each competition category to the CGS National Office by the annual deadline. Successful candidates will be notified directly by CGS.

Eligibility

Eligible dissertations include:

  1. A dissertation in the field of biological and life sciences, completed and accepted by SGPS (i.e., the effective date of the degree awarded) between July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025, inclusive.
  2. A dissertation in the field of humanities and fine arts, completed and accepted by SGPS (i.e., the effective date of the degree awarded) between July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025, inclusive.

Note:

If a dissertation is multi- or interdisciplinary in nature, a significant portion of the work must be comprised by at least one of the 2025 fields of competition. If the work of the dissertation overlaps the two broad competition areas in which the awards are given, SGPS must decide for which award it is appropriate to submit the dissertation.

Contact

For further information, please visit the CGS website or email Anna M. Naranjo (anaranjo@cgs.nche.edu).