Award recipients will receive a $1,000 award*, be recognized at the 2025 Water Institute Awards Ceremony, and be nominated for the UCOWR Ph.D. Dissertation Award by UF’s UCOWR delegate, Dr. Matt Cohen. If selected for the UCOWR Award, recipients will also receive supplementary travel support from the Water Institute to attend the UCOWR Conference and accept the award

*Please note that this award is considered income subject to payroll taxation. Your department will notify Payroll Services, and the corresponding taxes for the value of the award will be deducted on a subsequent paycheck.

• Be nominated by faculty advisor (must be a Water Institute Affiliate Faculty member)
• Ph.D. Students who have completed their dissertations between September 1, 2023 and August 31, 2025

A nomination packed includes two steps to be completed by August 1, 2025

• Student must complete the Student Nomination form and provide a copy of the Ph.D. dissertation (In cases where journal articles or other documents were accepted in lieu of a dissertation, digital copies of those documents that constituted the dissertation requirements must be submitted)
• Faculty advisor must complete the Advisor Nomination form. In case your student is selected as an awardee, we will request a Letter of endorsement addressed to UCOWR Ph.D. Dissertation Award Selection Committee (Letter must include the Ph.D. advisor’s mailing address, email address, and phone number)

• Quality and clarity of writing
• Originality and innovation
• Scientific merit, technical quality; soundness of research
• Understanding of previous related research
• Contribution to and impact on water resources research