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Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship Recipients
2024 Press Release

Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Scholarship

Purpose of the Award

This scholarship award fosters research in information science by recognizing the year’s most outstanding doctoral dissertation proposal while encouraging and assisting doctoral students in the field with their dissertation research.

Eligibility

The application must meet the following qualifications:

  • Author must be an active doctoral student in the information science area in a doctoral degree-granting institution;
  • Author must have had a dissertation proposal accepted by the institution or achieved the equivalent in their institution. The equivalent would typically include the formation of and motivation for a research question or topic, synthesis of prior research relevant to the research question, and a valid research design specifying data collection and analysis methods that are to be used in addressing the research question. A letter that confirms the student’s status with respect to their dissertation must be submitted by the student’s primary research supervisor; and
  • Nominee must be a current member in good standing of ASIS&T.
  • Because of the limits proposed by timing considerations, awards may be made for research underway.
  • Prior award winners, current members of the Awards & Honors Committee, and current members of the Board of Directors are not eligible.
Criteria

Submissions will be judged on the following criteria:

  • Potential significance of research to the field of information science (no attempt will be made to define “information science,” but the subjects should be consistent with topics usually published in the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology or presented at ASIS&T meetings) (20%);
  • Validity of methodology and proposed methods of analysis (20%);
  • Originality and creativity (20%);
  • Clarity and completeness of the proposal (20%);
  • Presentation of a convincing plan for completion in a reasonable amount of time (10%); and
  • Evidence of a continuing interest in scholarship, such as, a previous publication record (10%).
Nominations Process

Nominations must be submitted by 11:59 pm US Pacific Time on the deadline date via the designated online portal.

Nominations must include the following only:

  • Name, affiliation, and contact information of author;
  • The research proposal which includes:
    • A description of the research, including significance and methodology (10 pages or less, double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point font);
    • A dissertation timeline;
    • A budget not to exceed US$1,000 along with the budget justification for items for which financial support is sought. These must be items for which no other support is available; examples of acceptable budget items are printing, computer time, fees to subjects, keypunching, statistical consulting, photography, artwork, typing, and professional travel.
    • Information on other support for the dissertation, including scholarships, assistantships, and employment; and
    • The name of the dissertation advisor endorsing the proposal.
  • A cover letter from the dissertation advisor endorsing the proposal;
  • An up-to-date curriculum vitae.
Jury

A jury of five members (including the Jury Chair) and one alternate shall be appointed by the Awards & Honors Committee at the recommendation of the Jury Chair. Jury members must:

  • Be a member in good standing of ASIS&T;
  • Not be a member of any other ASIS&T committee;
  • Not submit a nomination for the award in the year of their jury service; and
  • Declare any conflict of interest related to any nominee for the award and recuse themselves from the jury should the conflict be deemed significant by the Jury Chair (in which case the alternate would be appointed).
Selection Process

Award winners shall be selected by a jury composed of ASIS&T members.

  • The jury will utilize both asynchronous scoring and synchronous discussion to arrive at a final decision as to who wins any award.
  • Through the evaluation platform or system, jury members will rate each nominee on a scale of 10 (highest) to 1 (lowest) on each of the criteria listed above. Jury members should also submit a brief synopsis summarizing the most exemplary accomplishments of that nominee.
  • If two proposals of equal merit are received, the scholarship shall be awarded on the basis of need. If two proposals judged to be of equally high merit are received from persons of equal apparent need, an effort should be made to break the tie. If this fails, the scholarship may be divided. In no case shall it be divided into more than two parts.
  • In the event of a tie that cannot be resolved through synchronous discussion, the jury chair will identify an additional jury member to break the tie. This new jury member will evaluate only the tied nominations and will rate them using the same criteria used by the other jurors.
  • In the event that the Jury does not receive any high-quality proposals, no award may be given that year.
  • The jury chair shall use the qualitative feedback from the jury as well as their own judgment to write a ~ 250-word citation stating the rationale for making the award.
Nature of the Award

The Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Scholarship is sponsored by the Association. It was established in 1981 and is administered by the ASIS&T Awards & Honors Committee. The award consists of a scholarship of up to US$1,000, a certificate, and up to US$500 towards travel or other expenses to attend the Annual Meeting, contingent upon the recipient’s attending the ASIS&T annual meeting to accept their award, and the opportunity to present the research at the ASIS&T Annual Meeting

Presentation of the Award

The award shall be presented at the ASIS&T Annual Meeting.

Important Dates
  • Jury Appointment: January 15
  • Submission Deadline: March 31 (or adjacent weekday)
  • Selection Deadline: May 15