Health Dissertation Award

The Health Communication Division at ICA in partnership with the Health Communication Division at the National Communication Association (NCA) annually recognizes the outstanding doctoral dissertation and masters thesis in the area of health communication. The Outstanding Masters thesis award has been named in honor of Amanda L. Kundrat. A cash award is given in the amount of $500 each for the top dissertation and top thesis. Calls for nominations are typically issued in the winter for dissertations and theses that have been completed (defended) in the 16 months up to December 31st of the preceding year. Dissertations and theses can only be nominated once.

Nomination Procedures:

The nomination packet should be submitted to the Chair of the ICA Health Communication Division and include:

1. a cover letter with the name, postal address, telephone number and email address of the nominee and his or her advisor(s) and completion date of the dissertation or thesis, and
2. a manuscript that acts as an integrated summary of the thesis or dissertation not exceeding 30 pages (double-spaced, one-inch margins on all sides) excluding references and title page. The summary paper should describe the study's rationale, theoretical framework, research questions, relevant literature, methods, results and conclusions. The summary paper should include a title page that contains only the title and the abstract. Care should be taken to mask the identity of the author within the text of the paper. Complete theses or dissertations or chapters of same will not be accepted for review.

Evaluation and Award Procedures:

A panel of elected officers of the ICA and NCA Health Communication Divisions evaluates the nominations and selects the award recipients, with the ICA Division Chair serving as the award coordinator. The awards are announced at the Health Communication Division business meeting during the ICA conference.

2013 Call for Nominations

Amanda L. Kundrat Health Communication Thesis of the Year Award
Health Communication Dissertation of the Year Award

ICA and NCA are pleased to release a call for outstanding masters theses and doctoral dissertations in the area of health communication. A cash award is given in the amount of $500 each for the top dissertation and top thesis.

To be considered for the 2013 awards, theses and dissertations must have been completed (defended) between 1 September 2011 and 31 December 2012. If the completion date was in the last four months of 2011, the thesis or dissertation cannot have been submitted for last year’s (2012) competition. Individuals may nominate themselves, but advisors must be notified of the nomination. Thesis and dissertation nominations will be evaluated by a panel of officers and members of the ICA and NCA Health Communication Divisions, with the ICA Chair serving as the award coordinator.

**Please read the following instructions for submitting a nomination packet carefully and in their entirety, because they have changed substantially since the 2010 competition.**

The nomination packet should include (a) a cover letter with the name, postal address, telephone number and email address of the nominee and his or her advisor(s) and completion date of the thesis or dissertation, and (b) a summary (excluding title page and references) of the thesis or dissertation not exceeding 5 pages (Times New Roman 12” font, double-spaced, one-inch margins on all sides, and in English; not counting title page and references). The 5-page summary should describe clearly and concisely the study’s rationale, theoretical framework, research questions, methods, results, and conclusions. Care should be taken to mask the identity of the author within the text of the summary. The summary should include a title page that contains only the title of the thesis or dissertation. Complete theses or dissertations or chapters of same will not be accepted for review. Reviewers will be instructed not to read beyond the first 5 pages of text. PLEASE SUBMIT PACKET AS A MS WORD DOCUMENT—NOT AS A PDF.

On or before March 6, a slate of up to 3 finalists for each award will be selected by the evaluation committee. Finalists will be invited to submit an extended integrated summary of the thesis or dissertation not exceeding 30 pages (double-spaced, one-inch margins on all sides, and in English). These summaries will be reviewed by the committee and the award winners will be selected from among the finalists.

Send an electronic copy of the nomination packet including cover letter and 5-page summary to: Mohan J. Dutta, Chair, ICA Health Communication Division (cnmmohan@nus.edu.sg).

The deadline for receipt of the nomination packets is 8 February 2013. Nomination packets received after that date will not be reviewed.