The deadline for this award has passed. Updates will be posted if a new one is to be offered.

MINDS established the Doctoral Dissertation Award program to recognize and encourage superior research on the theoretical foundations of data science by doctoral candidates at the Johns Hopkins University. The award is presented each year at the MINDS Symposium, this year to be held on October 23, where the receipt will give a talk on their work, and is accompanied by a prize of $1,000.

Eligibility: Johns Hopkins Ph.D. graduates are eligible, and only the student’s advisor may nominate a dissertation.  For each year’s award cycle, a nominated dissertation must have been successfully defended within the previous academic year: nominations for the 2020 award will be open for students having defended their thesis between September 1st 2019 and August 31st 2020.

Selection Criteria: Applications will be reviewed by an awards committee for technical depth and significance of the research contribution, as well as potential impact on theory and practice.

Deadline: Applications will be received until October 9, 2020, 11:59 pm EST.

Submission Instructions: Nominations are to be submitted by the student’s advisor only, and they should be emailed to [email protected]. The nomination package should include the following material:

  • Name, email address and academic position of the nominator (the student’s thesis advisor).
  • Name, email address and affiliation (school and department) of the candidate (person being nominated).
  • Dissertation abstract.
  • Nomination letter by the advisor addressing the significance of the dissertation and impact of the nominee’s research.
  • Endorsement letter: the nominator must provide one supporting letter from an expert in the field who can provide additional insights and evidence of the dissertation’s impact and merit.  (The nominator/advisor may not write this letter of support.)

For questions on the above, please contact us at [email protected].