Looking for an Award?

If you (and/or your supervisor) believes that your thesis might have sufficient impact, then it might be worth to think about getting nominated for an award of your thesis.

Given that I am a researcher in Automated Planning (a subfield of AI), I here list a few awards that might be an option. I could not find any such list and thus believe I might do my community a favor by providing it!

If you know of any additional award that might fit into this list, please let me know!

For Artificial Intelligence Dissertations (or related)

  • The ICAPS Best Dissertation Award by the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, given annually for a dissertation written in the context of Automated Planning and Scheduling.
  • The EurAI Best Dissertation Award, sponsored by the the European Association of Artificial Intelligence, is given every two years.
  • The AAAI/ACM SIGAI Doctoral Dissertation Award (see also here) got established by AAAI and ACM SIGAI to recognize and encourage superior research and writing by doctoral candidates in artificial intelligence. The award is presented annually at the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, and the winner is invited to present a talk at the conference.
  • The IFAAMAS Victor Lesser Distinguished Dissertation Award is awarded for outstanding doctoral dissertations in the areas of autonomous agents or multiagent systems.

For Computer Science or Related Dissertations

  • The ACM Best Dissertation Award is given annually to a dissertation written in the field of computer science and engineering.
  • The CORE Distinguished Dissertation Award is given to a dissertation in the field of computer science. The webpage sadly contains very little information, such as frequency or who is even eligible (also making its prestige hard to judge). However, the 2023 panel contains renowned scientists from prestigious Universities.
  • The SIGCHI Outstanding Dissertation Award recognizes outstanding research contributions from recently graduated PhD students within the HCI community, showcasing the quality and impact of HCI research. (This is apparently only applicable to a few of the works written in AI, however some of them are written in the context of HCI and might thus be applicable.)
  • The Ackermann Award gives an annual award for Outstanding Dissertations for Logic in Computer Science.
  • The Bill McCune PhD Award is given for its substantive contributions to the field of Automated Reasoning.
  • The EATCS Distinguished Dissertation Award promotes and recognizes outstanding dissertations in the field of Theoretical Computer Science.
  • The Victor Lesser Distinguished Dissertation Award honours dissertations based on the originality, significance, and impact of the work. Evidence of such impact include publications at highly selective conferences and journals in the field of Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, with due importance given to the AAMAS conference series and JAAMAS. Research output that resulted primarily from the student's initiative will be considered more favourably.

German Dissertation Awards

  • The Fürther Ludwig-Erhard-Preis, a German award, is annually bestowed by the Ludwig Erhard Initiative Circle Fürth e.V. This award aims to encourage research activities that prominently factor in elements such as innovation, practical relevance, feasibility, economic utility, and the consequences for individuals in our society.
  • The Klaus-Tschira-Preis (KlarText), a German award, is seeking young researchers who have written an excellent doctoral thesis and are eager to elucidate to a non-scientific audience the specifics of what their research entailed. The desired medium for this explanation is an easily comprehensible article or a vivid infographic.
  • The Deutscher Studienpreis annually recognizes the best doctoral graduates across all disciplines. What matters most is the societal significance of the research: they encourage young scientists to highlight the societal value of their own scientific achievements and to engage in public debate on this matter.

University-specific Awards

  • The GI-Dissertationspreis, an award presented annually by the Society for Computer Science (GI), in cooperation with the Austrian Computer Society (OCG) and the Swiss Computer Science Society (SI), recognizes exceptional dissertations in the field of computer science. This includes work advancing computer science, applications in other disciplines, and studies investigating the relationship between computer science and society. To be eligible, your University (from Germany, Switzerland, or Austria) has to nominate you, and only one student/thesis per University can be nominated. Being nominated can hence already be regarded as being shortlisted since only one dissertation and year can be nominated per University.
  • The J G Crawford Prize was established by the Australian National University (ANU) in 1973 to recognise Sir John Crawford's outstanding contributions to the University. Each prize consists of a medal for desk display and a monetary prize of $2000. Where possible, the prizes are presented at the University's Conferring of Awards Ceremonies.
  • If you are from a different country/University, chances are non-zero that your University might have such an award as well! Just google or ask around among academics from your University.