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.
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
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 |
2018 Prize Winner: David McLeod
It is with great pleasure that the Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society presents the 2018 Cecil Graham Doctoral Dissertation Award to David McLeod.
Dr. McLeod’s thesis is a beautiful example of applied mathematics, applying sophisticated mathematical ideas to questions of fundamental interest to evolutionary biologists, relating to infectious diseases and mating systems, including sexual selection and conflict, and also addressing social interactions such as cooperation, altruism and spite, for example showing how small population size can drive the emergence of such behaviour.
