Outstanding Thesis STEM Award

2019-2020 WAGS-PROQUEST DISTINGUISHED MASTER’S THESIS AWARD IN STEM Biological Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Engineering

The Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) and ProQuest are pleased to announce the 2019-2020 WAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award competition. Each member institution may submit one nomination for this award.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

This award recognizes distinguished scholarly achievement at the master’s level. Nominations will be accepted in any of the above-listed disciplines in which the institution offers a Master’s degree.

The scholarly product eligible for this competition is a formal written thesis. If a nominating department offers both a thesis option and a project option, only the thesis is acceptable for consideration for this award. Each submission requires a written nomination by the Dean of the Graduate School (College), or the equivalent office at the nominating institution. The internal institutional selection processes are the responsibility of the endorsing official.

GUIDELINES FOR THE 2019-2020 WAGS/PROQUEST DISTINGUISHED MASTER’S THESIS AWARD FOLLOW:

  1. Nominees must have successfully defended and submitted the final copy of their thesis for the Master’s degree within the period of July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. Nomination materials should be assembled in the following order and submitted electronically as one PDF file:
    1. A written nomination letter from the Graduate Dean cited in the Eligibility Requirements above. The letter should describe the process that was used to select the thesis for nomination.
    2. A non-technical summary prepared by the student (1000-1500 words) describing the research and its significance for a general academic audience of non-specialists.
    3. A letter from the department head or major professor and one additional faculty member.
      The letters should include information regarding the significance of the thesis, the contribution of the thesis to the program of the degree granting unit, and the impact of the thesis on the knowledge base of the discipline.
    4. A CV or resume from the student nominee.
  2. All nomination materials must be submitted electronically through the nomination form in a single PDF file titled:
    LastNameofRecipient_AbbreviatedNameofInstitution_WAGSDistThesisSTEMAward_2019-2020
  3. Nominations are due September 23, 2019. Nomination forms must be submitted using Qualtrics at this link: http://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8udxVoeGSRfU7rf
    Initial screening will be based upon the nomination packet and the thesis will be evaluated on four criteria. Each letter should specifically address each of the screening criteria below:

    1. Originality of the study
    2. Scope and significance of the study
    3. Contribution to the discipline and/or profession
    4. Overall quality of the thesis
  4. Nominators will be asked to provide an electronic copy of the complete thesis in the nomination form.
  5. The 2019-2020 winner will receive a Certificate of Award, $1000, and travel expenses for the recipient to attend the WAGS Annual Conference and Awards luncheon to be held in Albuquerque, NM in March, 2020.
  6. If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Tradewell at matthew.tradewell@oregonstate.edu
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