Innovation in Technology Award
The Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) and ProQuest are pleased to announce the 2024-2025 WAGS ProQuest Innovation in Technology award. This award is given for the development of innovative technology in a thesis or dissertation and its utilization for the creative solution of a major problem. This award recognizes distinguished scholarly achievement at the master’s or doctoral level.
Award Details
The 2024-2025 recipient will receive $1,000, a Certificate of Award, and travel expenses for the recipient to attend the WAGS Annual Conference and Awards luncheon to be held in (TBD).
Eligibility
Nominees must have successfully defended and submitted the final copy of their thesis or dissertation towards the master’s or doctoral degree within the period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.
Evaluation Criteria
- Originality of the study
- Scope and significance of the study
- Contribution to the discipline and/or profession
- Overall quality of the summary and abstract of the thesis or dissertation
Nomination Deadline
All 2024-25 nominations need to be submitted by September 25, 2024, by 5 PM PST. This internal deadline allows the WSU committee time to select the top nominee to send to WAGS.
Nomination Procedure
The Graduate School committee will establish an internal selection process, and the top nomination will be sent to WAGS for competition at the regional level.
The review status for all nominations will be communicated no later than October 1st, 2024.
Nomination Packet
In the online nomination form below, nominators will be required to prepare/upload the following materials as one PDF document using the following file name convention and upload it through the nomination form:
“Nominee’s last name_WSU_WAGSInnovation.pdf”
- A non-technical summary prepared by the nominee (1000-1500 words) describing the research and how it demonstrates or resulted in the development of innovative technology in the conduct of scholarship. This summary should be directed to a general academic audience of non-specialists.
- An abstract of the nominee’s research (not to exceed 10 double-spaced pages). Appendices containing nontextual material, such as charts or tables, may be included as additional pages. All pages should be numbered, and each should bear the name of the nominee.
- Two nomination letters (not to exceed 1 page per letter). One letter from the department head or major professor and one letter from additional faculty member. The letters should include information regarding the significance of the study, the contribution of the study to the program of the degree granting unit, and the broader impact of the innovation on the knowledge base of the discipline.
- The nominee’s curriculum vitae or resume (not to exceed five pages).