University of Texas at Austin
Dissertation Award

Oden Institute Outstanding Dissertation Award

The Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences Outstanding Dissertation Award recognizes exceptional work which exhibits the highest levels of scholarship, research, and writing by doctoral students in the Computational Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (CSEM) graduate program.

The winner will receive a framed certificate to be presented at the annual Oden Institute Awards ceremony and a cash award of $1,000.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the award in a given year, the student's dissertation must meet the criteria set by the Graduate School for the university's Outstanding Dissertation Award.

For the 2025 award, the dissertation must meet one of the following criteria:

  • It will be submitted in final form to the Graduate School by April 25, 2025 for a degree to be awarded in May 2025; or
  • It was submitted for a degree awarded in August 2024 or December 2024; or
  • It was submitted after April 1, 2024, for a degree awarded in May 2024.

Nomination

Nominations must be submitted to the CSEM Graduate Coordinator by January 31. The nomination must include:

  • One letter of support from the dissertation supervisor
  • One letter of support from a member of the dissertation committee.
  • One copy of the approved dissertation (including the abstract). In case the dissertation is not yet approved by the student's dissertation committee, the copy should be as close to the final version as possible.

Evaluation

The CSEM faculty review committee will consider all appropriate factors that denote excellence of the dissertations, including:

  • the importance and impact of the subject;
  • the originality and creativity of the work;
  • the quality of the scholarship;
  • the potential for publishing;
  • the organization of the dissertation;
  • the quality of the writing; and
  • other appropriate factors that denote excellence.

Individuals writing letters of support are encouraged to keep these criteria in mind as they comment on the significance, major contributions, and distinguishing aspects of the dissertation.

The review committee will make only one Oden Institute Outstanding Dissertation Award each year, and then only if the dissertation meets exceptional levels of scholarship, research, and writing.

The Oden Institute Outstanding Dissertation Award winner will be nominated for the Graduate School Outstanding Dissertation Award. Letter writers will have the opportunity to update their letters for the Graduate School nomination.