The Transdisciplinary Studies program offers awards to support transdisciplinary research at Claremont Graduate University.
Transdisciplinary Dissertation Awards
The Transdisciplinary Studies program awards up to five dissertation awards annually to PhD candidates. These awards recognize students who have embraced a transdisciplinary research approach and developed compelling and feasible projects.
The criteria for evaluating applications reflect CGU’s values for transdisciplinary inquiry. They include (but are not limited to):
- A demonstrated understanding of their home discipline’s methods and previous research on the topic
- A convincing rationale for why a transdisciplinary approach is appropriate for their project
- A description of the transdisciplinary approach reflecting the synthesis and integration of different disciplinary methods and perspectives to address the research question
- An understanding of the research project’s impact on the home discipline, other disciplines, and, if appropriate, the translational application of the research
- The dissertation committee’s membership. Having committee members from different schools demonstrates a student’s collaboration with experts from other fields, the student’s curiosity and openness to learning about other disciplinary methods, and the student’s recognition that their research issue cannot be studied from a single perspective
- The feasibility of completing the dissertation by the end of the next calendar year. Awards range from $3,000 to $10,000