Ph.D. Thesis Prize

Annual Prize

Assuming continuation of funding, the User Group awards an annual "JSA Thesis Prize" for the best Jefferson Lab related thesis in a given calendar year. The prize includes a monetary award and travel to the Annual User Group Meeting (typically in June of the following year), where the prize is awarded and the winner gives a presentation on her or his research. The deadline for submission of nominations for any given year is usually in late January of the following year.

2014

For the 2014 competition, the deadline is March 2, 2015 (we thank JSA for once again fully funding this prize). A complete package requires a nomination letter by a senior scientist giving the name and institution of the person being nominated and the names of three people who will send letters of recommendation, along with a copy of the thesis. All materials must be submitted electronically. The three letters of recommendation must be sent before the deadline, as well; it is up to the nominator and the candidate for the Prize to follow up on this.

Theses completed during the calendar year 2014 are eligible, as well as theses completed during the last quarter of 2013 (if they haven't been submitted before). The thesis prize submissions will be judged initially by members of UGBoD, followed by a panel of independent experts to select the final winner. Criteria for evaluation include quality of the written thesis, contribution of the student to the work, and contribution to JLab physics/community.

All materials must be sent by email to Lorelei Chopard (lorelei@jlab.org).

Please contact the chair of UGBoD (johna@anl.gov) for any questions.

This project is supported by the JSA Initiatives Fund Program (http://www.jsallc.org/ IF/IFIndex.html), a commitment from the JSA owners, SURA and PAE Applied Technologies. Initiatives Funds support programs, initiatives, and activities that further the scientific outreach, promote the science, education and technology of the Jefferson Lab and benefit the Lab's extended user community in ways that complement the Lab's basic and applied research missions.

Past Thesis Prize Award Winners

2014 : Rakitha S. Beminiwattha - A Measurement of the Weak Charge of the Proton through Parity Violating Electron Scattering using the Qweak Apparatus: A 21% Result

2013 : Katherine Myers - The First Determination of the Proton's Weak Charge Through Parity-Violating Asymmetry Measurements in Elastic e + p and e + Al Scattering 2012 : Biplab Dey (Carnegie Mellon University)

2011 : Xin Qian - Measurement of Single Spin Asymmetry in n(e,e'π^+/-)X on Transversely Polarized ³He

2010 : Daria Sokhan - Beam Asymmetry Measurement from Pion Photoproduction on the Neutron

2009 : Andrew Puckett - Recoil Polarization Measurements of the Proton Electromagnetic Form Factor Ratio to High Momentum Transfer

2008 : Guy Ron - The Proton Elastic Form Factor Ratio at Low Q²

2007 : Michael Williams - Measurement of Differential Cross Sections and Spin Density Matrix Elements Along with a Partial Wave Analysis for γp --> p ω Using CLAS at Jefferson Lab

2007 : Ian Cloet - Nucleon Structure Functions, Their Medium Modifications and the Polarized EMC Effect

2006 : Jianglai Liu - A Measurement of the Strange Quark's Contribution to the Electromagnetic Form Factors of the Nucleon

2005 : Carlos Munoz Camacho - Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering in Hall A of JLab

2004 : Karl Slifer - Spin Structure of ³He and the Neutron at Low Q²; A Measurement of the Extended GDH Integral and the Burkhardt-Cottingham Sum Rule

2003 : Ludyvine Morand - Measurement of the Electroproduction of ω Mesons at Large Four-Momentum Transfer

2002 : Xiaochao Zheng - Precision Measurement of Neutron Spin Asymmetry A1n at Large X_bj Using CEBAF at 5.7 GeV

2001 : Dave Gaskell - Longitudinal Electroproduction of Charged Pions from Hydrogen, Deuterium, and ³He

2000 : Maud Baylac - A Measurement of the Polarization of the Jefferson Laboratory Electron Beam Via the Compton Effect for the HAPPEX Experiment on Parity Violating Elastic Electron-Proton Scattering

1999 : Bart Terburg - High Energy Two-Body Deuteron Photodisintegration

1999 : Ioanna Niculescu - Inclusive Resonance Electroproduction Data from Hydrogen and Deuterium and Studies of Quark Hadron Duality