About CAGS（https://cags.ca/contact/）
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Awards & Prizes
National 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Showcase（https://cags.ca/3mt-2/）
CAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award（https://cags.ca/proquest-distinguished-dissertation-award/）
Dr. Suning Wang Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentorship（https://cags.ca/outstanding-graduate-mentorship/）
Graduate Student Experience Award（https://cags.ca/cags-gse-award/）
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National Community of Practice on Graduate Supervision（https://cags.ca/national-community-of-practice-on-graduate-supervision/）
Graduate and Postdoctoral Development Programs: Toward a National Strategy（https://cags.ca/graduate-and-postdoctoral-development-programs/）
Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS)（https://cags.ca/cgpss/）
CAGS Webinar Series – The Good and the Bad of Black Grad（https://cags.ca/cags-webinar-series/cags-launches-new-webinar-series-the-good-and-the-bad-of-black-grad/）
Rethinking the PHD（https://cags.ca/rethinkingphd/）
Publications
Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS)（https://cags.ca/cgpss/）
(Re)conciliation Task Force Report 2022（https://cags.ca/cags-news/the-canadian-association-for-graduate-studies-reconciliation-task-force-report-2022/）
CAGS Task Force on Excellence in Graduate Programs – Final Report 2022（https://cags.ca/cags-news/cags-task-force-on-excellence-in-graduate-programs-final-report-2022/）
CAGS Publications（https://cags.ca/cags-publications/）
Statistical Reports（https://cags.ca/statisticalreports/）
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CAPA（http://postdoc.ca/）
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ACFAS（https://www.acfas.ca/）
Select Page
CAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award
2026 CAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award
About the Award
The 2026 CAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award recognizes Canadian doctoral dissertations that make unusually significant and original contributions to their academic field. They were established in 1994 and are presented annually by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS), with sponsorship support provided by ProQuest. Winners of this award will be granted a $1,500 cash prize, a certificate of recognition, and an opportunity to attend the 64th Annual CAGS Conference, to be held in Regina, Saskatchewan, in November 2026.
We invite submissions of dissertations in both official languages.
This year, a first place winner will be selected from each of the following categories:
Engineering, Medical Sciences, and Natural Sciences
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Eligibility
Eligible Dissertations include:
A dissertation in any discipline in engineering, medical sciences, and natural sciences completed and accepted by the Graduate School between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.
A dissertation in any discipline in the fine arts, humanities, and social sciences completed and accepted by the Graduate School between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.
Note : In interdisciplinary domains or in fields that overlap the two broad areas in which the prizes are given, the Dean of Graduate Studies must decide for which prize it is appropriate to submit the dissertation.
Note : To be eligible, dissertations must be disseminated in full text format via the ProQuest Dissertation & Thesis Global database (PQDT Global), prior to jury selection.
Nomination Procedure
Member institutions may submit two nominations – one for each category of award.
Each nomination must include:
A letter of support from the Dean of Graduate Studies, which also includes the following information:
A description of the process used to select the nominee;
The name and departmental affiliation of the nominee’s research supervisor;
The name and affiliation of the external examiner;
The date of the defence and the date of final acceptance of the dissertation by the Graduate School (the date at which the final copy of the thesis, including all required corrections, is submitted to the graduate school).
Note: all applications must be submitted by the Dean of Graduate Studies (or equivalent) or by a representative of their office.
A letter from the student’s supervisor or program director describing the reasons for the nomination, and why the dissertation constitutes a significant piece of original work.
A copy of the external examiner’s pre-defence report. The examiner’s report must be dated and signed or otherwise authenticated by the Dean of Graduate Studies.
An abstract of the dissertation, not exceeding 350 words, written by the candidate in non-technical language (the candidate should also be aware of their nomination for the award and provide the information in items 4 and 5; should this not be possible the reasons must be given in the letter from the dean).
An up-to-date c.v. of the nominee.
The name and coordinates of the person to contact for questions relating to the nomination.
Submission Period
CAGS is accepting nomination packages for the 2026 CAGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award during the period 1 February – 31 March 2026. Complete nomination packages should be submitted electronically in a single file (PDF) to awards.prix@cags.ca by 4:00 PM (ET) on 31 March 2026. Please send separate files for each award category, and include “CAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award” in the subject line.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS (PDF)（https://cags.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/TBU_Call-for-Nominations-DDA-Website-Copy-2026-ENG-1.docx）
Application Checklist (PDF)（https://cags.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-Checklist-Liste-de-verification-Dissertation-Awards-Prix-de-la-these-2025.pdf）
Learn About the 2026 Award Winners（https://cags.ca/prizes/cags-proquest-distinguished-dissertation-award/the-canadian-association-for-graduate-studies-announces-winners-of-2026-cags-proquest-distinguished-dissertation-award/）
Learn About the 2025 Award Winners（https://cags.ca/prizes/cags-proquest-distinguished-dissertation-award/the-canadian-association-for-graduate-studies-announces-winners-of-2025-cags-proquest-distinguished-dissertation-award/）
Learn About the 2024 Award Winners（https://cags.ca/prizes/the-canadian-association-for-graduate-studies-announces-winners-of-2024-cags-proquest-distinguished-dissertation-award/）
2025
Dr. Jaris Swidrovich, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Xander Huggins, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria
2024
Dr. Tari Ajadi, Department of Political Science, Dalhousie University
Dr. Maëva Perez, Department of Biological Sciences, Université de Montréal
2023
Dr. Sabrina Rondeau, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph
Dr. Célia Romulus, Department of Political Studies, Queen’s University
2022
Dr. Stephanie Ross, Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University
Dr. Zachary Witkower, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia
2021
Dr. Ugo Gilbert Tremblay, Department of Law, University of Montreal
Dr. Qinzhe Zhang, Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre (EMT), Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
2020
Dr. Ina Anreiter, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
Dr. Hannah Kia, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto
2019
Dr. Janelle Marie Baker, Anthropology Department, McGill University
Dr. Soren Mellerup, Department of Chemistry, Queen’s University
2018
Dr. Ashley Whillans, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia.
Dr. Christian Reimer, Department of Physics, National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS)
2017
Dr. Boyang Zhang, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Toronto.
Dr. Leila Qashu, Department of Ethnomusicology, Memorial University.