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 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 2026, in Los Angeles, CA. 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.
The fields of competition for the award include biological sciences, social sciences, mathematical and physical sciences, the humanities and fine arts. Winners are chosen by a committee of CGS member deans. Rotating on two-year cycles, contributions to the physical sciences and the social sciences are awarded one year; contributions to the biological and life sciences, and the humanities and fine arts are awarded the following year.
The fields of competition for 2026 are:
- Mathematics, Physical Sciences & Engineering
- Social Sciences
If a dissertation is multi- or interdisciplinary in nature, a significant portion of the work must be comprised by at least one of the 2026 fields of competition.
Nominations for the honor are made by “regular” institutional members of CGS in good standing and reviewed by an advisory committee of expert scholars in each field. Each eligible member may nominate one person in the field of physical sciences and one in the field of social sciences, for a total of two nominations maximum per institution. A separate nomination form and package must be submitted for each institutional nominee.
The effective date of the degree awarded, or the completion of doctoral degree requirements and dissertation, must lie in the period of July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026, inclusive, for each nominee selected. Such degree award or completion is to be confirmed by the institution’s graduate dean or other administrative officer responsible for doctoral degree programs.
Students submit the following to the Graduate Division via the application.
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- An abstract of the your 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 your dissertation work. One of these letters is to be from your dissertation supervisor, another from a member of the nominee’s dissertation committee, and the third from a person of the your choice.
- The nominee’s curriculum vitae (not to exceed five pages).
For questions about the CGS/ProQuest Dissertation Award, please contact memberservices@cgs.nche.edu.
For questions about the UCI internal selection process, please contact the Graduate Division via fellowships@rgs.uci.edu or contact Turner Dahl at tdahl@uci.edu