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PhD Achievement Awards

To recognize our current PhD students’ academic professional development, the Graduate School will
provide USC PhD Achievement Awards for students with exceptional academic profiles. Six awards of
$3,000 will be made to students from across the university. Each recipient’s primary faculty advisor will
receive a $500 USC Graduate School PhD Mentoring award. Each USC PhD program may nominate one
candidate.

Current students from every PhD program at USC are eligible. The award is for exceptional achievement
as a USC PhD student. The student’s overall profile as a doctoral candidate may include such elements as
significant publications as the sole or primary author; job offers that signal the outstanding quality of the
student’s doctoral work; major awards in a broadly conceived field; and other markers of excellence
appropriate to the student’s field.

Departmental nominators will be asked to submit applications with the following information:
 A statement by the student describing her or his academic vision – what s/he has achieved and
hopes to achieve in terms of an academic contribution to the relevant field (up to 500 words)
 Documentation for publications, awards, job offers, other achievements
 A letter of nomination from the student’s academic advisor or other faculty member who can put
the student’s work into the broader context of the given field
 A copy of the student’s most recent curriculum vitae and transcript
 Sign-offs from the department chair and dean of the school supporting the nomination.
 Contact and general academic information for the nominee and primary faculty advisor

Submissions will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary faculty committee. Recipients of the USC PhD
Achievement Awards will be invited to lead the column of PhD graduates at the university
commencement.

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