CAES Outstanding Master's Thesis Award

Due March 15th
This award recognizes excellence in student research at the master's level. The Society seeks to attract theses that demonstrate a high quality with regard to the subject matter of the research as well as the way the research has been conducted. The competition recognizes an overall winner and as many as two Honourable Mentions. The jury attaches importance to an original approach and insight, and the relevance of the research to a scientific understanding of the issues covered. In addition, the jury will consider the significance of the thesis in relation to issues in agricultural economics and its interest for the general public. The theses must be completed in the year previous to the year the award will be given (2011). Nominations will be accepted from agricultural economics and related social science disciplines in which the institution offers a master's degree. The scholarly "product" eligible for this competition is a formal written thesis. If a nominating department offers both a thesis option and a project option, only the thesis is acceptable for consideration for this award. Each submission requires a written nomination by the Chair of the Department, Graduate Program Chair or equivalent officer. The internal institutional selection processes are the responsibility of the endorsing official. Each institution may submit up to two nominations for the award.

Guidelines for Submission of Master's Thesis NominationsA nominee must have earned the degree within the period of January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2011. Nomination materials must be provided by the Chair of the Department or equivalent officer. The nomination materials must include:
        An electronic copy of the written thesis in PDF (Portable Document Format).
        A letter from the department chair or advisor. The letter should include the full name of the applicant, the applicant's email address, the full name of the supervisor(s), the year the applicant graduated and the full name of the program of the degree granting unit.
For each thesis submitted to the competition, a volunteer reviewer with her/is email address. This will help the Association to ensure there are enough reviewers and that all theses are subjected to the same number of reviews. The department can nominate reviewers from the department or external e.g., government departments, non-profit and for-profit organizations. Please note that it is the nominating department's responsibility to obtain the volunteer's consent to participate as a reviewer.
All nomination materials must be submitted no later than March 15, 2012, and emailed to Chad Lawley, chad_lawley@umanitoba.ca.
    Initial screening will be based upon four criteria:
        Originality
        Significance of the study
        Overall quality
        Outcomes and accomplishments from the thesis
 Award winners will be asked to participate at the CAES Annual General Meeting and Conference. The cost of the meeting is not covered by the Society; however 0the supervisor of the winner will be informed in advance of the meeting so that travel arrangements can be made with the winner.