The university provides incentives for academic excellence and rewards those promising students who - with their work - have shown outstanding academic potential.
Master's Awards
The Outstanding Academic Achievement Award is given to graduating master's students from each department who have achieved the highest GPA (grade point average) based on their coursework performance.
Master's Awards Recipients
Doctoral Awards
1. Best Dissertation Award
These awards, given annually, are intended to recognize important scholarly contributions by graduate students. Dissertations from any discipline that are based on significant original research, raise thought-provoking questions in the field, and open up new perspectives are recognized through this award. The Doctoral Committee especially wants to reward imaginative research that takes an innovative approach in terms of the sources, the methodology and/or the research questions. Nominations of works that take a broadly understood comparative perspective and use an interdisciplinary approach are especially encouraged as well as those contributing to the understanding and practice of social justice.
The number of awards is three annually: the award amounts to 1,500 EUR apiece. In addition, each recipient is given 200 EUR to be spent on relevant academic publications of his or her choice to enrich the CEU Library. The procedure for donation is the following: award recipients send their list of chosen books to the head librarian. The CEU Library orders the books which will be charged to the Student Services' account. An ex libris informs CEU readers that these books have been donated by a CEU Best Dissertation Award recipient.
Eligibility
Doctoral theses that were defended in the current or preceding academic year and received a grade cum laude or higher are eligible for nomination. Students who had been awarded the Award for Advanced Doctoral Students can also be nominated.
Procedure
Dissertations normally are nominated by the student's supervisor, and need to be collected by the Doctoral Program Committee (DPC). In case more than one student from a program is nominated, the DPC is asked to rank the candidates. In exceptional cases, nominations can also be made by another scholar who is familiar with the student's work. Nominations consist of:
- a copy of the dissertation;
- a nomination letter by the supervisor that details the nature and merit of the work;
- a letter of recommendation by another recognized scholar in the field from outside CEU.
Nominations are to be submitted electronically to Boroka Beni (benib@ceu.edu) by May 15, 2023 to be evaluated by the University Doctoral Committee.
The awards are presented at a special ceremony on the day of graduation.
2. Award for Advanced Doctoral Students
The CEU Awards for Advanced Doctoral Students rewards outstanding student research. The award amounts to 800 EUR apiece.
Eligibility
- Completion of a significant portion of research that serves as the basis of the dissertation and scholarly presentation of tangible results that directly stem from the research (a draft chapter, a paper);
- GPA of at least 3.5 or the highest placements in the department
- Enrolled status at the time of nomination and the transfer of the award money
Students who had been awarded the CEU Academic Achievement Award for First-Year Doctoral Students can also be nominated.
Procedure
- Candidates are nominated by their supervisor to the Doctoral Committee. Doctoral Committees select the nominations
- Departments may nominate up to two students
- The nominations are to be forwarded to the Pro-Rector SSH’s office
- Nominations consist of
- a letter of recommendation by the supervisor or the Doctoral Committee
- CEU doctoral program grade transcripts
- a written piece by the student (a draft chapter or a paper) that is based on the research
- most recent annual report by the supervisor
- Documents are sent in an electronic format
- Deadline: January 15, 2023. Nominations are to be submitted to Office of the Pro-Rector for Social Sciences and Humanities (PR_research-faculty@ceu.edu). The University Doctoral Committee examines all nominations.
- Decisions will be announced by February 7, 2023
3. Academic Achievement Award for First-Year Doctoral Students
The CEU Academic Achievement Awards for First-Year Doctoral Students are meant to reward outstanding coursework and performance during the comprehensive exam. The awards amount to 500 EUR apiece.
Eligibility
- GPA of at least 3.8 or the highest placements in the department
- Outstanding performance at the comprehensive exam
- Enrolled status at the time of nomination and the transfer of the award money
Procedure
- Candidates are nominated by their supervisor, to the Doctoral Committee. Doctoral Committees select the nominations.
- Departments may nominate one student.
- The nominations are to be forwarded to the Pro-Rector SSH’s office.
- Nominations consist of:
- a letter of recommendation by the supervisor or the Doctoral Committee
- CEU doctoral program grade transcripts
- examiner's or committee's report from the comprehensive exam or minutes (if applicable)
- Documents are sent in an electronic format.
- Nominations are made in the fall following the nominee's first year. Deadline: January 15, 2023. Nominations are to be submitted to Office of the Pro-Rector for Resarch and Faculty (PR_research-faculty@ceu.edu). The University Doctoral Committee examines all nominations.
- Decisions will be announced by February 7, 2023.