Gold Medal for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in the Humanities

The Faculty of Humanities Graduate Steering Committee invites applications for the Gold Medal for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in the Humanities. This competitive, non-monetary award is intended to recognize a student from a doctoral program in the Faculty of Humanities who has written an outstanding dissertation and whose research has made (or is expected to make) a significant contribution to their field. One Doctoral Medal will be awarded per year.

We actively encourage nominations of students from groups with historical and/or current barriers to equity, including, but not limited to

First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, and all other Indigenous peoples;
members of groups that commonly experience discrimination due to race, ethnicity, ancestry, colour, religion and/or spiritual beliefs, or place of origin;
persons with a visible and/or invisible disability;
women; and
persons of marginalized sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.

The selection committee must consider equity and diversity when making its deliberations. All disclosures to the committee are confidential.

ELIGIBILITY
The award is open to all students who have completed a doctoral graduate program in the Faculty of Humanities (this includes graduate programs by special arrangement (SPARR) students in Humanities units, as well as individual interdisciplinary (INTD) students whose primary administrative home unit is in the Faculty of Humanities)1 and meet the following criteria:

INTD students whose primary administrative unit is outside the Faculty of Humanities are not eligible.

Gold Medal for Outstanding Doctorial Dissertation in the Humanities

their final, cumulative GPA in their program was 7.0 or higher;
the outcome of their oral exam was that the dissertation was acceptable subject to editorial changes or minor revisions;
their record contains no academic offenses; and
all degree requirements were completed in the previous calendar year, including submission of the final dissertation to UVicSpace.

CRITERIA
A nomination package must include the following:

a nomination letter (two pages maximum) written by the student’s supervisor(s) that summarizes why the candidate’s thesis or project is outstanding and that outlines the significance of the candidate’s work and achievements; the letter must clearly identify how the nominee meets the award criteria;
the nominee’s CV;
the nominee’s UVic academic transcript from their Doctoral program;
a short abstract (max 500 words) of the thesis or project in non-specialist language that makes clear the impact of the research;
a digital copy of the External Examiner’s Report; and
a digital copy of the dissertation.

Please ensure that your application includes all of the items

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
The winner will be selected by the Faculty of Humanities Graduate Steering Committee. This committee is chaired by the Associate Dean Research or their designate. Members having a conflict of interest with any nominee will be asked to recuse themselves and the chair will designate another member from their unit to serve in the selection process.

The committee will evaluate the candidates using the following criteria:

the calibre and originality of the dissertation research, including the significance of any breakthrough or major advance made by the research;
the current and future impact of the thesis research on academic knowledge, community or society;
excellence in presentation of the research;
excellence in academic achievement as evinced by the transcript and CV;
any scholarly accomplishments that have arisen from the dissertation research (e.g., peer‐reviewed articles or talks, invited talks or lectures, creative works, websites or other digital resources, and so on);
any public outreach activities or outcomes that have arisen from the dissertation research (e.g., white papers, reports for the public or private sector, including community groups and organizations, K-12 curriculum materials, language learning materials, museum displays, and so on); and
awards and other forms of recognition for research accomplishments.

The committee will recommend a nominee for the medal to the Dean of Humanities.

The electronic nomination package should be submitted as one PDF, sent via email to the Dean’s Office (humsassistant@uvic.ca) and copied to the Associate Dean Research (humsadr@uvic.ca), no later than JANUARY 31. If the deadline falls on a weekend, the nomination is due the following Monday. In order to preserve the confidentiality of the nomination letter, the electronic nomination package must be submitted by the nominator(s); nominations received from the nominee will not be accepted.

Nominees will be notified of the outcome no later than March 1.

For additional information, please contact the Dean’s Office at (250) 721-4677 or humsassistant@uvic.ca.

Amount

No monetary value

Application deadline

January 31

Eligibility

Normally, the minimum requirement for consideration is an A- average and any additional criteria that has been established by the donor. Application details, deadlines and eligibility criteria are all listed in the award description. Unless otherwise noted in the award description, you must be a full-time graduate student.

How to apply

In order to preserve the confidentiality of the nomination letter, the electronic nomination package must be submitted by the nominator(s); nominations received from the nominee will not be accepted.

For additional information, please contact the Dean’s Office at (250) 721-4677 or humsassistant@uvic.ca.

Retaining funding

Ongoing UVic graduate funding requires students to maintain a minimum level of academic standing and some ongoing maintenance.