Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award

The Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award is open to any doctoral or MFA graduate student who has completed their candidacy requirement. Applicants are judged by their completed and /or ongoing research projects, participation in research events and conferences, presentations and publications, future research plans, and a letter of recommendation from a faculty mentor. The award is given in the areas of STEM, Social Sciences, and Humanities, for a total of 3 awards annually.

The OGSRA was started in 2019 with the goal of promoting the research productivity of graduate students, and changed in 2021 from a semester award to an annual award.

Call for Applications Process

September 5, 2024 - The Graduate School is pleased to open applications for its Outstanding Graduate Student Research award. This cycle is recognizing research productivity for work done during the 2023-2024 academic year.

Three awards will be given, one each in the categories of STEM, Humanities, and Social Science. Each award will consist of public recognition by the Graduate School, an award plaque, and an additional travel award to be used to attend a conference of the student’s choice and/or travel for dissertation research.

Eligibility:

Must be a research candidate (doctoral or MFA) who has already completed their candidacy requirement
Must have published (or have forthcoming) at least one paper or equivalent as a major contributor, received an outside grant/fellowship for research or had research accepted to present at a major national or international conference.
Must have attended a conference within the last year
Must have presented research in an additional venue, such as:
- Participated in 3-Minute Thesis
- Participated in the Research Showcase
- Presented your own research within your program (e.g., at a brown bag or seminar)
- Presented at a community event (e.g., at the Mayborn)
Students who were previously given this award are eligible for a second time but must highlight significant additional progress subsequent to the first award in their application.

Application Requirements:

All applications will be evaluated by a graduate faculty panel of judges.

Use the link to fill out your application form and upload supporting documents: APPLICATION LINK
- Within the online application you will enter the date you passed your candidacy exam (Month/Year)
Request a letter of recommendation from your advisor in conjunction with your application. Note: the online application will ask you to enter your advisor’s name, and an email will be sent requesting them to upload their letter directly to your application.
Submit a document addressing the following (3 page maximum, submitted as a PDF within the application form):
- Summary of your research project(s) and progress made. We strongly encourage you to write as if for a general audience, as judges will be from a variety of fields.
- Future research plans.
- Dates of participation of 3 Minute Thesis, Research Showcase, Travel Awards, or other research presentations as well as title of projects (included on your CV)
- Publications (for multiple author publications, describe your specific contributions; please include full citations for each publication).
- Presentations (please include full details about presentations, including title and date of presentation).
- Other awards/achievements (include any stipend enhancement from the Graduate School, and any previous receipt of this award).
Include a copy of your CV or resume (not included in the 3 page maximum, but included in the above PDF).
To be considered for 2023-2024 award selection, submit all documents and application by 8 AM Friday, September 27, 2024.