Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award

University Distinguished PhD Dissertation Award

Student application deadline: March 29, 2027
Reference letter of support deadline: April 5, 2027
Department nomination deadline: April 19, 2027

According to plans developed by faculty committees and approved by the Graduate Council, each degree granting program of the IU Graduate School Bloomington may nominate one truly outstanding Ph.D. dissertation for consideration. The Awards Committee of the Graduate Faculty Council will consider such criteria as originality, documentation, significance, accuracy, organization, and style.

In addition to recognizing outstanding Ph.D. Dissertations, the University Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award competition is also to solicit competitive applicants for nomination to the CGS (Council of Graduate Schools)/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award.

Note: To be eligible for CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award all nominated dissertations must be in the ProQuest database by the deadline.

Award

2 awards of $5,000 each. 1 award will be given in each category, which match the fields of competition for this year’s CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award.

Eligibility

Ph.D. students must have received a Ph.D. degree during the two previous academic years. For the 2027 award, applicants must have completed doctoral degree requirements and the dissertation between the period of July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027.

Fields of Competition

The broad fields of competition are based on the CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award and alternates between Biological/Life Science and Humanities and Fine Arts or Social Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering every two years. For 2027, the fields are Biological/Life Sciences and Humanities.

Nomination Process

Each degree-granting program of the IU Graduate School Bloomington is allowed one nominee of a truly outstanding dissertation in each category.

• Students who wish to be considered for nomination must complete and submit the online application by the published deadline.
• After the application deadline, all completed applications will be forwarded to the applicant's academic department for review. Each degree-granting program may nominate one student in each category for consideration.
• Departments will receive an email with instructions for reviewing applications and submitting their nomination through the online system.
• Once departmental nominations have been submitted, the nominated applications will be forwarded to the Graduate Faculty Council Review Committee for final review and selection.

Student Application Process

Visit the application portal for more information about this competition.

Launch Application Portal

Recent Winners

2026 Social Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering

"Towards Empircally Validated Models of Cogno-Social Belief Dynamics," Rachith Aiyappa, Department of Informatics

"Intelligent Brain Organoid Microphysiological Systems," Hongwei Cai, Department of Intelligent Systems Engineering

2025 Biological/Life Sciences and Humanities and Fine Arts

" Contents, Biogenesis, and Immune Function of Extracellular Vesicles Secreted by Plants," Benjamin Koch, Cell, Molecular and Cancer Biology Program

"'In the eyes of the new government, we are covered in mud': Cultural Memory, Generational Conflict, and the Imprint of Militarization on Two Former Military Communities," Richard Raber, Department of History

2024 Social Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering

"The Role of Policy Design and Context in School Choice Reforms: Essays On Educational Equity and Quality", Yusuf Canbolat, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

"Fulfilling Privacy and Security Compliance in Software Supply Chain", Yue Xiao, Department of Computer Science

2023 Biological/Life Sciences and Humanities and Fine Arts

"No Letters Arrive Anymore: American Yiddish Holocaust Literature", Sean Sidkey, Departments of Comparative Literature and Religious Studies

2022 Social Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering 

" Design Failure in Instructional Design Practice: Practitioners' Perspective", Ahmed Lachheb, Department of Instructional Systems Technology

2021 Biological/Life Sciences and Humanities and Fine Arts

"Cartographies of Conflict: Political Culture and Urban Protest in Santiago, Chile, 1872-1994", Denisa Jashari, Department of History
 
"Identifying the Pathogen Blocking Mechanism of the Symbiont Wolbachia Pipientis in Arthropods", Tamanash Bhattacharya, Department of Microbiology

2020 Social Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering 

  "Fabric-Based Computing: (Re)Examining the Materiality of Computer Science Learning Through Fiber Crafts", Anna Keune, Department of Learning and Development Science

“The Causes of Mutation and Substitution Rate Variation in Primates”, Gregg Thomas, Department of Biology and Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering