Academic Awards

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The university provides incentives for academic excellence and rewards those promising students who, with their work, have shown outstanding academic potential.

Master's Awards

The Outstanding Academic Achievement Award is given to Master’s students from each department who have achieved the highest GPA (grade point average) at the end of the program.

[List of recipients]

The Academic Pro-Rector's Excellence Award is given at the end of the first semester to Master’s students from each department who have achieved the highest GPA for the semester.

[List of recipients]

Doctoral Awards

1. The Best Dissertation Awards

These awards, given annually, are intended to recognize important scholarly contributions by graduate students. Dissertations from any discipline that are based on significant original research, raise thought-provoking questions in the field, and open up new perspectives are recognized through this award. The Doctoral Committee especially wants to reward imaginative research that takes an innovative approach in terms of the sources, the methodology and/or the research questions. Nominations of works that take a broadly understood comparative perspective and use an interdisciplinary approach are especially encouraged as well as those contributing to the understanding and practice of social justice.

The number of awards is three annually: first, second and third prize. The amount of the awards is 3,700 USD, 2,700 USD and 1,700 USD, respectively. In addition, each recipient is given 300 USD that can be spent on relevant academic publications of his or her choice to enrich the CEU Library.The procedure for donation is the following: award recipients send their list of chosen books to the head librarian Maria Szlatky. The CEU Library orders the books which will be charged to the Student Services' account. An ex libris informs CEU readers that these books have been donated by a CEU Best Dissertation Award recipient.

 

Eligibility
Doctoral theses that were defended during the preceding two years and received a grade cum laude or higher are eligible for nomination. Students who had been awarded the Award for Advanced Doctoral Students can also be nominated.

Procedure
Dissertations normally are nominated by the student's supervisor. In exceptional cases, nominations can also be made by another scholar who is familiar with the student's work. Nominations consist of:

  • a copy of the dissertation;
  • a nomination letter by the supervisor that details the nature and merit of the work;
  • a letter of recommendation by another recognized scholar in the field from outside CEU.


Nominations are to be submitted to the Krzysztof Palosz Assistant of the Academic Pro-Rector by May 25 (Wednesday) to be evaluated by the University Doctoral Committee. The awards are presented at the graduation ceremony.

[List of recipients]

2. The Award for Advanced Doctoral Students

The CEU Awards for Advanced Doctoral Students have two goals: to stimulate research towards completion of the dissertation and to reward outstanding student research. The award is usually given in the third year of the candidate's career but definitely after finishing fieldwork/research and resuming residence at CEU. Annually there are 20 awards. It is up to the University Doctoral Committee to decide about the actual number of awards per department based on the number of third-year doctoral students in the given year. The award amounts to 1,300 USD apiece.

Eligibility

  • completion of research that serves as the basis of the dissertation and scholarly presentation of tangible results that directly stem from the research (a draft chapter, a paper);
  • GPA of at least 3.5 or the highest placements in the department.


Students who had been awarded the CEU Academic Achievement Award for First-Year Doctoral Students can also be nominated.

Procedure

  • Candidates are normally nominated by their supervisor. Doctoral Committees can also initiate nomination.
  • Departments may nominate up to two students.
  • Nominations consist of
    • a letter of recommendation by the supervisor or the Doctoral Committee
    • CEU doctoral program grade transcripts
    • a written piece by the student (a draft chapter or a paper) that is based on the research
    • most recent annual report by the supervisor
  • Documents sre sent in an electronic format as a one package.
  • Nominations are made in the fall following the nominee's research year(s).
  • Deadline: December 2, 2011 (Friday). Nominations are submitted to the Assistant of the Academic Pro-Rector (Krzysztof Palosz). The University Doctoral Committee examines all nominations.
  • Decisions will be announced by January 31, 2012.

[List of recipients]

3. The Academic Achievement Award for First-Year Doctoral Students

The CEU Academic Achievement Awards for First-Year Doctoral Students are meant to reward outstanding coursework and performance during the comprehensive exam. Annually there are 5-10 awards to be distributed. The awards amount to 800 USD apiece.

Eligibility

  • GPA of at least 3.8 or the highest placements in the department
  • outstanding performance at the comprehensive exam

Procedure

  • Candidates are normally nominated by their supervisor. Doctoral Committees can also initiate nomination.
  • Departments may nominate one student.
  • Nominations consist of:
    • a letter of recommendation by the supervisor or the Doctoral Committee
    • CEU doctoral program grade transcripts
    • examiner's report from the comprehensive exam
  • Documents sre sent in an electronic format as a one package.
  • Nominations are made in the fall following the nominee's first year. Deadline: December 2, 2011 (Friday). Nominations are submitted to the Assistant of the Academic Pro-Rector (Krzysztof Palosz). The University Doctoral Committee examines all nominations.
  • Decisions are announced by January 31, 2012.

[List of recipients]