Best Post-Graduate Thesis Award

Purpose

The Best Post-graduate Thesis Award is intended to recognise the most outstanding Post-graduate thesis in the field of agricultural and resource economics written by a student at an Australian or New Zealand university.

Amount of Award

The author of the winning thesis will receive a $500 cash award and a certificate to be presented at the Society’s Annual Conference dinner.

Eligibility

All PhD and Master’s theses accepted (that is, examined and approved) by Australian and New Zealand universities during the 12 months ended 30 September, for the award of a PhD or Master’s degree. ‘Accepted’ in this sense means approved by the Faculty concerned, irrespective of the date of conferring of degrees.

Membership of the Society is not a necessary condition of entry.

Entries

Only one thesis may be submitted by any one Department (or equivalent unit), although up to two theses may be submitted if there are exceptional circumstances.

The thesis may be submitted by a thesis supervisor or Department Head, but must be endorsed by the Department Head at the University at which the thesis was submitted as suitable for consideration for the prize. An electronic copy of the thesis plus examiners reports and written agreement to the nomination are to be forwarded by email to the AARES Central Office by 15 November.

Basis of Award

The Prize will be made on the basis of academic merit within the field of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Entries submitted which are considered ineligible by the Award panel because they are beyond the field of Agricultural and Resource Economics will not be evaluated. In the event of one or more theses being judged to have equal merit, the Prize may be shared.

The Society reserves the right to make no award in the event that no entry is judged to be of sufficient merit.

General

The decision of the Council of the Society will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into with entrants or department heads on behalf of entrants. Submission of a thesis for the Prize implies acceptance of all the conditions of the Prize.

Instructions to the Prize Committee

The Committee includes three members. Normally, one member is replaced each year, so the usual length of tenure of a member is three years. Normally, each member chairs the committee in their second year as a member.

The system and specific criteria for judging the award are up to the committee.

Ideally, the committee should finalise their decision prior to the Conference and advise the secretary of the result so that he/she can prepare a cheque and certificate for presentation at the conference dinner.

Previous Award Winners

Prize Committees