Nomination Submission Deadline: February 1 each year
CS-Can/Info-Can, the Canadian academic computer science organization, presents annually the Canadian Computer Science Distinguished Dissertation Award to computer science doctoral students completing degrees at Canadian institutions.
These awards recognize excellence in research and writing in a doctoral dissertation.
A prize of $1000 accompanies the award. The award winner will be invited to attend the annual CS-Can/Info-Can Awards Banquet to receive the prize.
Nominations are welcome starting on September 1 of the award year.
Doctoral students who have successfully defended a computer science dissertation at a Canadian university during the previous calendar year may be nominated. While many nominees will be from computer science departments[1], nominations from other departments are welcome.
In all cases, the nomination package must include an explanation of the contribution to the field of computer science made by the dissertation.
The selection committee comprises a Panel of computer scientists from a variety of sub-disciplines of the field. All nomination material should be written appropriately for such an audience. The panel is appointed by the CS-Can/Info-Can Board of Directors.
Nominations are welcome in either English or French.
Candidates must be nominated by their doctoral supervisor. The nomination must be approved by the chair of the department and must be endorsed by two experts in the field. All submissions should be packaged into a single PDF file.
The nomination package must contain the following material.
A nomination letter on letterhead in PDF format with the following information
Name, address, phone number, email, and signature of the nominator (the nominee's doctoral supervisor)
Name, address, phone number, email, and signature of the department chair or alternate
Name, address, phone number, and email of the person being nominated
Name, address, phone number, and email for each of two experts in the field who are providing signed letters of endorsement
The title of the dissertation
The department and university within Canada where the degree is being granted
The date on which the dissertation was successfully defended by the nominee
A nomination statement (450 words maximum[2]) explaining why the nominee deserves to receive the award and how the research reported in the dissertation contributes to the field of computer science
A document in PDF format with both English and French versions of the abstract for the dissertation, one of which is the abstract as it appears in the dissertation that was submitted to the university
Two (2) signed letters of endorsement on letterhead in PDF format from the individuals identified in the nomination letter
A PDF copy of the full final dissertation as it was submitted to the university, or a link to the full final dissertation in PDF format
A PDF copy of the nominee's current CV
The nomination letter must be signed by the nominee's doctoral supervisor and by the nominee's department chair. If the supervisor is also the department chair, the graduate officer or some other faculty administrative officer in the department must sign as an alternate on behalf of the chair.
Letters of endorsement from two experts in the field who are neither the supervisor nor the chair (or signing officer) should provide evidence of the dissertation's relevance to computer science and the potential for impact on the field.
Dissertations will be reviewed based on their originality, potential impact, technical depth and significance, and quality of presentation.
The deadline for receiving nominations is February 1 of the calendar year following the completion of the dissertation. The deadline will be strictly adhered to.
All materials in the nomination package should be put into a single .zip archive file named NomineeLast-NomineeFirst.zip with each individual document in PDF format. The names of the documents should be the following.
NomineeLast-NomineeFirst-Nomination.pdf
NomineeLast-NomineeFirst-Abstract.pdf
NomineeLast-NomineeFirst-EndorserLast-EndorserFirst.pdf
(for both letters of endorsement)
NomineeLast-NomineeFirst-Dissertation.pdf
NomineeLast-NomineeFirst-CV.pdf
The .zip archive file should be sent as an email attachment to the chair of the CS-Can/Info-Can Dissertation Awards Committee via email to dissertation-award@cscan-infocan.ca by the nomination submission deadline.
Review all of the specific instructions on this page and the general instructions for all award nominations before submitting.
All submissions will be acknowledged by return email.
The successful candidate will be notified by March 15 following the submission deadline.
The award will be presented at the CS-Can/Info-Can Awards Banquet, which is usually held in May or June following the award year in conjunction with the CS-Can/Info-Can Annual General Meeting. The successful candidate will be reimbursed to help defray the costs of attending the Awards Banquet to receive the award in person.
More information about awards
Additional information about the awards program, eligibility, and nomination procedures is available here. Notes specific to this award are below.
1 The term "department" when used above is intended to include all Canadian Departments, Faculties, and Schools of Computer Science, however named, and also academic units that award doctoral degrees in areas that are closely related to computer science. Similarly, the term "chair" refers to the Chair or Head of a Department, the Director of a School, or the Dean of a Faculty, whichever is appropriate.
2 In all cases, the page or word limits are upper limits.