Competitive SGS Awards

Each academic year graduate programs nominate students for three School of Graduate Studies awards. Each award is accompanied by a monetary prize.

Distinguished Thesis Award

This award recognizes distinguished scholarship and research at the Master’s level. Each program offering a Master’s degree with a thesis option is allowed to nominate one thesis into the competition. There is no application for students – this award is nominated by faculty. 

The Call for Nominations will be distributed to the applicable program directors on June 1, for nominations by July 1.

Eligibility for 2026 nominations:

• Summer 2024 through Spring 2026 conferral of the Master's degree
• First category of eligible disciplines: Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering
• Second category of eligible disciplines: Social Sciences

Nomination packets must include:

• Abstract of the thesis
• Full thesis copy
• Letter of support from the faculty mentor

SGS will then gather faculty reviewers in early Fall, to announce a winner in each category by September 15.

The institutional winners will receive a monetary prize and a certificate. Starting in Fall 2026, SGS will put a thesis from each category forward for nomination into the regional MAGS thesis competition as well. The winner of the MAGS competition receives a monetary honorarium and travel to the MAGS Annual Meeting.

Read more about the MAGS thesis award competition on the MAGS website – information is from the 2026 competition that had institutional nominations due in November 2025.

Outstanding Dissertation Award

This award, established in 1980, recognizes outstanding scholarship and accomplishment at the doctoral level. Academic units offering doctoral degrees may enter one dissertation from each degree program (or each participating discipline) into the competition. There is no application for students – this award is nominated by faculty. The winner receives a monetary prize and a certificate, and beginning in Spring 2026 will be put forward for nomination into the CGS national competition as well.

Three-Minute Thesis Competition

The Three-Minute Thesis is an international competition, with monetary prizes designed to sharpen students’ abilities to communicate research in an exciting and meaningful way to an educated non-expert audience. It can be described as the combination of an elevator speech and a TED talk.

The 2027 competition will be held in February - further details to come in the Fall.

The 2026 institutional winner for UMKC was Steven Collins, who competed in the regional MAGS competition in March.

Competition rules

• A single static PowerPoint slide is permitted. No slide transitions, animations or movement or any descriptions are allowed. The slide is to be presented from the beginning of the oration.
• No additional electronic media (e.g., sound and video files) are permitted.
• No additional props (e.g., costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
• Presentations are limited to three minutes maximum, and competitors exceeding three minutes are disqualified.
• Presentations are to be spoken word (no poems, raps or songs).
• Presentations are to commence from the stage.
• Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through either movement or speech.
• The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.
• Titles must be brief and non-technical. 
  • Can the eyes of a plant help feed the world?
  • Why death matters
  • Gut bugs are responsible for digestion

Award Winners