CfN: CAUTG Prize for Best Canadian PhD Dissertation in German Studies

The CAUTG PhD Dissertation Prize is usually awarded every other year (up to two awards). The next prize is to be awarded at the Annual Meeting of the Association in May 2017 in Toronto, Ontario, for dissertations defended between Oct. 16, 2014 and Oct. 15, 2016.

Field of Research: PhD dissertations from all fields that have been defended at a German department or program in Canada (Cultural Studies, Linguistics, Literature, Second Language Acquisition) or those written in any area of German Studies, including those written as part of the completion of a degree in, for example, Comparative Literature or Philosophy or History, etc. Dissertations written in English, French, or German are eligible to be nominated.

Nomination Criteria: The PhD dissertation should demonstrate original and strong scholarship. Its defense must fall in the time period specified above.

Nomination Process: Self-application for the award is not possible. Candidates must be nominated by any professor at any Canadian institution, but it must be forwarded to the award committee Chair (with a letter of nomination)  from the German Department / Program whose decision will be communicated by the Graduate chair/coordinators (or department head/chair or her/his designate) to the chair of the committee, Nikola von Merveldt (n.von.merveldt@umontreal.ca), by February 17, 2017. Each department or program or division may still forward only one nomination to represent its institution.

Procedure: The committee requests dissertations to be submitted electronically (as pdf-, word- or rtf-files). In unusual circumstances, the committee also accepts the submission of one paper copy, but electronic copies are clearly preferred. A letter of nomination from the graduate or department chair explaining the merits of the dissertation and the reasons for nomination (including, for example, the examining committee’s or external reviewer’s remarks) must accompany the submitted dissertation.

Prize: The award winners will receive an official CAUTG certificate and a cash award of $500. Further, the award winner is eligible for the defraying of travel costs to the annual CAUTG meeting at which the award is granted (even if she/he does not present a paper at that meeting).

Selection Committee: The selection committee consists of its chair and two other members who are currently active faculty members in German programs at Canadian universities. They will be appointed after the submission deadline in consultation between the chair of the committee and the president of the CAUTG.

Objectivity: The committee will ensure that the procedure will be as objective as a competitive award selection can be. The decision of the committee will be wholly based on the quality of the written dissertation; neither the ‘name’ of the degree granting institution nor of the thesis advisor will play a role in the selection process.