CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards
Fellowship details
First presented in 1981 and sponsored jointly by CGS and ProQuest, part of Clarivate, these awards are made each year to individuals who, in the opinion of the award committee, have completed dissertations representing original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to the discipline.
Two awards are given annually in two different broad areas (mathematics, physical sciences, and engineering; and social sciences; and the biological and life sciences; and humanities and fine arts.) Individuals must be nominated for these awards by a member institution. Nominated dissertations must be in the ProQuest database to be eligible for the award.
The fields of competition for this year are:
- 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.
Please Note: The CGS/ProQuest Award operates on a two-year cycle with regard to fields of competition. The fields of competition for 2026 will be Mathematics, Physical Sciences & Engineering; and the Social Sciences.
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. Only the winners and the nominating deans will be notified of the outcomes of the competition prior to the Awards Luncheon. Selection Process: The Council of Graduate Schools will name an Award Committee whose members have established records in the disciplinary areas under consideration. Additional consultation may be sought at the discretion of the committee members. The nominated dissertations should represent original work making an unusually significant contribution to the disciplines. Both methodological and substantive quality will be judged.
The effective date of the degree awarded, or the completion of doctoral degree requirements and dissertation, must lie in the period of July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2025, inclusive, for each nominee selected
Students submit the following to the Graduate Division via the application.
- 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 (not to exceed five pages).
- 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).
For questions about the CGS/ProQuest Dissertation Award, please contact Anna M. Naranjo at anaranjo@cgs.nche.edu.
For questions about the UCI internal selection process, please contact the Graduate Division via Fellowship Inquiry Form or email gd-fellowship@uci.edu