ISPI ACADEMIC AWARD:

DISTINGUISHED DISSERTATION AWARD

Extended Application Window:

1 August - 30 September 11:59pm EDT

Award Description

The ISPI Academic Awards Program features two distinguished categories: the Distinguished Dissertation Award (DIS) and the Outstanding Research Award (OSR).

The Distinguished Dissertation Award honors excellence in doctoral research that advances the theory or application of Human Performance Technology (HPT) or related disciplines such as Adult Education, Learning Technologies, Behavioral Psychology, and Vocational Education. Award recipients will be invited to present their research at the annual ISPI conference and are encouraged to submit their work to Performance Improvement Quarterly for publication consideration.

What Qualifies

Doctoral dissertations focused on human performance improvement, including performance analysis, intervention design, implementation, or evaluation.
Research that follows a rigorous methodology and contributes to performance improvement theory, frameworks, or practice.
Studies that provide empirical data, systematic analysis, and implications for improving human and organizational performance.
Dissertations aligned with ISPI’s principles and standards for effective performance improvement.

What Does Not Qualify

Non-dissertation projects or doctoral work that has not been formally defended.
Papers or conceptual essays without original empirical research.
Dissertations lacking a structured methodology or clear relevance to HPT.
Work that does not reflect academic integrity or is incomplete at the time of submission.

Application Process

This award follows a common application process:

Review these "Five UnSecrets to Winning an ISPI Award"—a checklist and optional quiz designed to help you improve your application performance, with no tracking of your views or quiz responses.
Download and complete the application proposal. (If the proposal link doesn’t open in Chrome, please try using Firefox, Safari, or Edge instead.)
Click the “Apply Now” button to enter your contact information, upload the proposal, and submit the application. Your proposal must be a single Word or PDF file (not password-protected or in portfolio format).

Qualifying Criteria

The Applicant or Nominee must be either a Gold Level Member or an Advocate Member of ISPI. To qualify, the research must:

Be a doctoral dissertation successfully defended within the current calendar year or the four previous years.
Be submitted by a student enrolled at an accredited university anywhere in the world.
Include a letter of recommendation from the Dissertation Academic Director (to be uploaded separately in the online application form).
Have addressed all the outlined criteria listed in the applicant proposal.
Have been received by the deadline.

Distinguishing Criteria

Submissions for the Distinguished Dissertation Award (DIS) will be evaluated across seven in-depth sections plus an additional section of open-ended questions:

Section 1: Introduction
Section 2: Literature Review
Section 3: Research Methodology
Section 4: Instrumentation
Section 5: Data Analysis
Section 6: Research Findings
Section 7: Discussion and Conclusion
Section 8: Open-ended Questions

Each section will receive a qualitative rating—EXCELS, PROFICIENT, or DEVELOPING—based on overall strength, clarity, and alignment.
For complete evaluation criteria, please refer to the award rubric.

For questions about applying for an Award, please email: awards@ispi.org