Graduate Research & Creative Achievement Awards

Details of Award

The award is an opportunity to honor outstanding scholarly and creative works by graduate students. Theses/Dissertations, applied, visual, or creative art projects, capstone projects, or other independent projects are eligible for consideration. The format should be consistent with discipline/program guidelines.

Student submissions must be formally nominated by their Graduate Program Director using procedures established by the Program. Each graduate program may nominate one student for consideration per academic year, and typically, five total awards will be granted. Nominees must either be currently enrolled in a graduate degree program or, more likely, have completed their studies no more than one year before the time of the submission.

Nominations must be submitted electronically to gradstudies AT_TOWSON by the fourth Friday in March and include:

1. a full electronic copy of the work, provided in a format that is consistent with discipline/program guidelines
2. a joint letter of nomination from the Graduate Program Director and the student’s advisor to the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Studies Committee. This letter should:
   a) identify the specific contribution of the work to the field in a manner that will be understandable to non-experts,
   b) verify that the work has been approved by the student's faculty committee and,
   c) certify that the work is primarily that of the student.

Other entry materials may include but are not limited to publication-ready manuscripts, visual displays of concepts, graphic designs, photographs, interactive media projects, and/or websites.

A subcommittee of the Graduate Studies Committee will review submissions to determine the awards. The committee will consist of a five-member panel of judges, including the Dean of Graduate Studies, three graduate faculty members with experience reviewing scholarly/creative works from various disciplines and one of the two GSC student representatives.

General criteria for award selection:

• intellectual merit of the work (e.g., rigor of the research design and analysis; creativity of the project design and execution; potential for replication)
• potential broader impact of the work (e.g., relevance and/or potential benefit to the field, practice, and/or community)
• the overall quality of writing and/or presentation (e.g., clarity, technical execution)
• overall quality of the work and its consistency with meritorious recognition

The award will include a $200 check.