INFORMS Open Forum

Doctoral Dissertation Award

The SIGecom Doctoral Dissertation Award recognizes an outstanding dissertation in the field of economics and computation. The award is conferred annually at the ACM Conference on Economics and Computation and includes a certificate, complimentary conference registration, and an honorarium of $1,500. A certificate may further be given to up to two runners-up. No award may be conferred if the nominations are judged not to meet the standards for the award.

To be eligible, a dissertation must be on a topic related to economics and computation and must have been defended successfully during the calendar year preceding the year of the award presentation.

The next SIGecom Doctoral Dissertation Award will be given for dissertations defended in 2025. Nominations are due by February 22th, 2026 (Anywhere on Earth), and must be submitted by email to sigecom-dissertationaward@googlegroups.com with the name of the nominee in the subject. A dissertation may be nominated simultaneously for both the SIGecom Doctoral Dissertation Award and the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award.

Nominations may be made by any member of SIGecom and typically  will come from the dissertation supervisor. Self-nomination is not allowed. Nominations for the award must include the following, each in a separate pdf file, if possible named resp., citation.pdf, thesis-summary.pdf, thesis.pdf, endorsement.pdf, and endorsers.pdf.

1. Suggested citation if the dissertation is selected. This should consist of at most 2 sentences describing the key contributions of the thesis.

2. A two-page summary of the dissertation, written by the nominee, including bibliographic data and links to publicly accessible versions of published papers based primarily on the dissertation. The summary must use at most two pages, but  the bibliographic data can use additional pages.

3. An English-language version of the dissertation in a separate file.

4. An endorsement letter of no more than two pages by the nominator, arguing the merit of the dissertation, potential impact, and justification of the nomination. This document should also certify the dissertation defense date.

5. The names, email addresses, and affiliations of two additional endorsers.

Items 2 and 4 must use one inch or larger margins and 11 point or larger font.

The additional endorsement letters themselves should be sent directly by email (sigecom-dissertationaward@googlegroups.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sigecom-dissertationaward@googlegroups.com), by the same deadline. These endorsements should be no longer than 500 words and should specify the relationship of the endorser to the nominee, contributions of the dissertation, and its potential impact on the field.

It is expected that a nominated candidate, if selected for the award, will attend the next ACM Conference on Economics and Computation to accept the award and give a presentation on the dissertation work. The award includes complimentary registration but does not cover travel or accommodation expenses to attend the conference.

• The 2025 Doctoral Dissertation Award Committee

  • Ozan Candogan, University of Chicago

  • Richard Cole (chair), New York University

  • David Pennock, Rutgers University