
Cecil Graham Doctoral Dissertation Award
This award was established by the Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society (CAIMS) to recognize and to publicize an outstanding PhD thesis in Applied Mathematics accepted at a Canadian University during the calendar year prior to the year of the award. This award is named after Cecil Graham, who was a founding member of the society and served as secretary-treasurer/secretary for eight years. Cecil was a great mentor and took a particular interest in encouraging young people to become involved with the society.
The award consists of a prize of $1000 and a commemorative plaque that will be presented at the CAIMS*SCMAI Annual Meeting. The recipient will be invited to give a lecture at the Annual Meeting in the year of the award. A travel allowance will be provided.
Nominations shall consist of:
- a cover letter from the thesis supervisor indicating why the thesis is being nominated. This letter should summarize the research problem, techniques, results, significance, and potential impact
- a letter (from the supervisor or other appropriate person familiar with the thesis and the research area) placing the thesis within the context of the current field and identifying potential applications of the work
- a letter from the Graduate Chair (or Faculty of Graduate Studies, University library, etc.) providing proof of the official date the thesis was accepted
- an electronic copy of the thesis
- a brief discussion of why there is a strong relationship to Canada. Examples of such a relationship include:
- The nominee is a member of CAIMS-SCMAI
- The nominee holds a position at a Canadian institution
- The research for which the prize is being given was conducted primarily
in Canada
To submit an application for this award, go to Open Nominations page.
CAIMS Cecil Graham Dissertation Award Evaluation Rubric
Score | 10 to 5 | 4 to 1 | 0 |
Quality of Thesis Results | The results of the thesis are of exceptional quality. They have immediate impact to the field. | The thesis contains some interesting results which might become relevant in the future. | The results are incremental with little impact. |
Innovation | The thesis contains one or a few highly innovative ideas. | The thesis contains some original ideas. | The methods follow directly from established techniques. |
Writing and Style | Engaging writing style, text flows well, fun to read. | Text is clear and easy to read. | The thesis is tiresome to read. Logical flow is interrupted. It contains grammatical or spelling errors. |
TOTAL: 0-30 |

2022 Prize Winner: Ali Devran Kara
It is with great pleasure that the Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society presents the 2022 Cecil Graham Doctoral Dissertation Award to Dr. Ali Devran Kara in recognition of the substantial results achieved in his dissertation, and stellar publication
record in top journals in his field including an IEEE student paper award.