Marquis Award and Rackham/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award

Description

The Marquis Award was established in 1960 in honor of Donald G. Marquis. It will be awarded annually to the student judged to have submitted the best doctoral dissertation in Psychology. It consists of an award of $250 and a plaque. The recipient's dissertation will also be submitted for the ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award competition (sponsored by Rackham) which recognizes exceptional and unusually interesting work produced by a doctoral student in the last phase of their grad work. The nominees' overall academic accomplishments will also be taken into account. Award recipients receive a $1,000 honorarium.

 

Who Should Apply?

Students who had their PhD degrees conferred during the 2012 calendar year: May 2012, August 2012, and December 2012.  

Eligibility

The nominee must have completed the dissertation and had their doctoral degree conferred during the 2012 calendar year: May 2012, August 2012, and December 2012. Rackham requires that candidates complete all of their degree requirements by November 13, 2012, in order to have their degree conferred in 2012. Students whose degree will not be conferred until April 2013 are not eligible to be nominated in 2012, even if they gave their final defense during fall 2012. They will, however, be eligible for this award in 2013. 
 

Application Procedures

Each Area Chair can nominate one student by submitting the following to the Psychology Student Academic Affairs Office: 

1. A letter of nomination, outlined below.
2. The nominee's current CV.
3. A copy of the nominee's dissertation abstract.

The letter of nomination, which can be written with the nominee's dissertation Chair, should be presented in distinct sections that speak to each of the following topics in the order listed:

• Description: A brief description of the topic.
• General comments: General comments about the nominee, including his or her overall scholarly credentials.
• Innovation: The degree of innovation, creativity, and insight shown by the author.
• Scope: The scope and importance of the work to the department and to the field.
• Writing: The effectiveness of the writing (including whether it is written in language that is reasonably understandable to faculty in related disciplines).
• The nomination letter may be no longer than two pages (1350 words). 
   
• Once a student's application is chosen for the Marquis Award, the recipient will then need to request letters of support that will be submitted to Rackham for the ProQuest Award.

The SAA Committee will select the recipient of the Marquis Award, which will then be the application which is forwarded to the ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award competition.

Materials can be submitted electronically to psych.grad.awards@umich.edu.

Application Deadline: 10/11/2012