Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award

Historically, each program has been limited to ONE master’s and ONE doctoral nomination. We now allow large graduate programs (master’s + doctoral = 100 students enrolled annually, averaged over last five years) to submit TWO master’s theses and TWO dissertations for consideration. Please use the most up-to-date enrollment reports available to verify eligibility.

Recipients of a first professional degree prior to the thesis are eligible for this award; however, nominees may not have received a PhD or comparable research degree in any discipline prior to the master’s or doctoral thesis that is being nominated, i.e., a student pursuing a second PhD and a student with a PhD pursuing a master’s degree would both be ineligible for this competition.

For the 2025 cycle, eligible students are those whose degree was officially awarded by UIC in Fall 2024, Spring 2025, or Summer 2025. There are no exceptions.

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The program/department collects and submits the following items as a single PDF file to the Graduate College via a secure link, for review by the Awards Committee:

1. A completed Annual Graduate College Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award Application (fillable Word template).
2. A letter of nomination from the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Head discussing the student in general terms.
3. A letter of support from the primary advisor (i.e., the advisor responsible for the research for the thesis) that explains the impact of this research on the field.
4. An abstract. Theses may use the “summary” submitted to the Graduate College (cf. the Graduate College Thesis Manual); however, it should be renamed “Abstract.” Doctoral dissertation abstracts may not exceed five (5) pages double-spaced and appendices (with charts, tables, figures, and/or references) may not exceed an additional five for a maximum of ten (10) pages. Supplied by student.
5. A concise (300-word maximum) description of the significance of the research presented in the dissertation or thesis. This must be written in language suitable for the educated lay person.  Supplied by student.
6. A current curriculum vita that includes a list of awards, honors, publications, and presentations. Maximum of 5 pages. Supplied by student.

• OTD Application
• GC Thesis Manual
• FAQs

FAQs on Nominating Students and Preparing Applications for the OUTSTANDING THESIS AND DISSERTATION AWARD

Brief Description of the Award

The Graduate College’s annual Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award is given to the most outstanding master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation in each of the four Graduate Program divisions, as determined by the Graduate College Awards Committee. Each of the eight awards include a monetary award.

Eligibility and Department Selection

1. Who is eligible for nomination for this award?

• Only a student whose program is within and whose dissertation/thesis is approved by the Graduate College
• Only a student who already has graduated.
• For the 2024 cycle, students whose degree was awarded by UIC in Fall 2023, Spring 2024, or Summer 2024.

2. How many Outstanding Thesis nominees can a department put forward?

• Each calendar year, a graduate program under the auspices of the Graduate College can nominate one master’s and one doctoral student. We allow large graduate programs (master’s + doctoral = 100 students enrolled annually, averaged over the last five years) to submit TWO master’s theses and TWO dissertations.
• Up to one master’s and one doctoral award is given per disciplinary division: Arts and Humanities; Behavioral and Social Sciences; Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences; and Life Sciences.

3. How are the nominations reviewed and the winners chosen? What criteria are used by the Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Awards Committee to evaluate the nominations? And, how will this affect selection of nominees?

• The Graduate Awards Committee has six members for each of the major disciplinary divisions in at the University: Arts and Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, and Life Sciences. The committees include faculty from a wide range of disciplines.
• Applications are reviewed by the Graduate Awards Committee and evaluated for academic excellence on the basis of research significance, thesis abstract, and other criteria as deemed appropriate by the committee, including the recommendation from the nominating program/department.
• Nominating departments can ensure that their applicants have the best possible chance by:

(1) Selecting students who are truly competitive for the award, i.e., students who have significant accomplishments that stand out from the pool of other candidates.

(2) Providing a detailed and clear explanation in the DGS/Head/Chair Nomination Letter and in the letter of support by the thesis advisor for why the student was selected. Some points to highlight may include not only the scholarly merits of the thesis and thesis research, but also significant publications or papers that came out of the thesis research, external recognition of the excellence of the research, and post-doctoral opportunities that have arisen from the research.

(3) Encouraging the student to carefully craft their statement of the Significance of the Research, with the understanding that the statement should be written for an evaluation committee that include faculty from related disciplines.

(4) Submitting an abstract that is reflective of the thesis, and is well written and logically organized. The abstract has a maximum length of five (5) pages double-spaced in addition to up to five pages of appendices (charts, tables, references) for a total not exceeding ten pages.

(5) Preparing the application well, minimizing errors, checking for missing components, avoiding poorly written text, and allowing enough time for both the student and faculty involved to craft strong statements.

Preparing and Submitting the Nominating Packets in the Department

1. How are the nominating packets submitted?

• Departments should submit their nominations electronically. All of the forms required in the nomination packet are on-line and consist of fillable Microsoft Word documents [see below] that are easily converted into a single pdf file for each student nominee [see below for instructions on how to convert files to pdfs]. Letters written by recommenders and the Director of Graduate Studies will need to be scanned (or otherwise reproduced) and added to the student’s pdf file. Most departments will have access to Adobe Acrobat software that converts both scanned documents and Word files to a pdf format.
• Department Program Coordinators or DGSs who are experiencing difficulties in creating digital files should contact Benn Williams (bwilli7@uic.edu).

2. Where do I start in obtaining the paperwork and instructions for preparing and submitting the applications?

• The instructions for preparing and submitting the applications, and the relevant forms, are found here: https://grad.uic.edu/funding-awards/otd-2/.
• Submission is via email to a Box account dedicated to the four disciplinary divisions. If you do have a problem, please contact Benn Williams (bwilli7@uic.edu) with any questions.

3. How should the paperwork be organized?

• To nominate a student for the Annual Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award, programs must submit a single PDF file for each nominee (contents described below) to the Graduate College by published deadline. No individual extensions will be granted. Nomination PDF files consist of the following materials compiled in the order specified.

1. A completed Annual Graduate College Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award Application (fillable Word template).
2. A letter of nomination from the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Head discussing the student in general terms.
3. A letter of support from the primary advisor (i.e., the advisor responsible for the research for the thesis) that explains the impact of this research on the field.
4. An abstract. Theses may use the “summary” submitted to the Graduate College (cf. the Graduate College Thesis Manual); however, it should be renamed “Abstract.” Abstracts may not exceed five (5) pages double-spaced and appendices (with charts, tables, figures, and/or references) may not exceed an additional five (5) pages for a total limit of ten pages. (This element has been modified for the 2024 competition to better synchronize with regional and national competitions.) Supplied by student.
5. A concise (300-word maximum) description of the significance of the research presented in the dissertation or thesis. This must be written in language suitable for the educated lay person.  Supplied by student.
6. A current curriculum vita that includes a list of awards, honors, publications, and presentations. Maximum of 5 pages. Supplied by student.

• Please prepare nomination packets carefully. Poorly prepared or incomplete nominations are a common cause of otherwise deserving students failing to receive fellowship awards.

4. How do I digitize and submit the nomination?

• Save the forms/documents listed above as one single PDF per nominee. We recommend using Adobe DC to combine files. Alternatively, most of the required documents likely originate in Microsoft Word and can be converted to pdfs using most standard office software. Letters, statements, and other components of the student applications coming into the department as paper files can be scanned into pdfs.
• The PDF files should be saved using the following naming convention:

OTD_YearofAward_ProgramNameAbbreviation_Degree_NomineeLastNameFirstI nitial.pdf

Example – A 2024 PhD nominee from philosophy named Tonya Fauci:

OTD_2024_Phil_PHD_FauciT.pdf

• Do not leave spaces in the pdf name.
• There is a 1GB size limit on each individual file.
• The Graduate College uses University of Illinois Box for all submissions. Box accounts are free to all UIC students, staff and faculty. Box should send you a receipt upon a successful submission.

Revised September 11, 2024 bw

• GC Thesis Manual
• 2024 OTD Application

When you are ready to upload the PDF file to the Graduate College, click on the Box link provided below and file in the correct division by 4 p.m. (Central) on October 11, 2024.

• The Graduate College uses the secure University of Illinois Box for all submissions.  Box accounts are free to all UIC students, staff and faculty.
• Email your file(s) to the appropriate division.

The Director of Graduate Studies (or designate) puts forth the nomination of the outstanding thesis or dissertation.

1. Completed award application (fillable Word template).
2. Letter of nomination from the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Head/Chair discussing the student in general terms.
3. Letter of support from the primary advisor (i.e., the advisor responsible for the research for the thesis) that explains the impact of this research on the field.
4. Abstract.
5. Concise description of the significance of the research; written for the the educated lay person.
6. CV

Nomination will be a single PDF following the naming convention:

OTD_YearofAward_ProgramNameAbbreviation_Degree_NomineeLastNameFirstI nitial.pdf

Example – A 2024 PhD nominee from philosophy named Tonya Fauci:  OTD_2024_Phil_PHD_FauciT.pdf

**Staff/faculty uploaders:  Simply select the correct divisional folder below to initiate your email. Attach your PDF(s). Box should send you a receipt upon a successful submission.**