The 2019 CPHC/BCS Distinguished Dissertations competition is open. Details, including the submission instructions may be found  at https://www.bcs.org/more/awards-and-competitions/distinguished-dissertations/

For those of you with previous experience of the competition, please note that some of the submission instructions have changed this year.

If any problems are experienced, or you have any questions, please email disdis19@easychair.org for assistance.

We will accept submissions up to the 30th April 2019. Dissertations completed between 1st Jan 2018 and 31th March 2019 are eligible. (The site above is still being updated to reflect this).

CPHC (the Council of Professors and Heads of Computing), in conjunction with BCS, annually selects for publication the best British PhD/DPhil dissertations in computer science. The scheme aims to make more visible the significant contribution made by the UK – in particular by post-graduate students – to computer science. Publication also serves to provide a model for future students.

The selection panel operating on behalf of BCS and CPHC consists of experienced computer scientists (not more than one from any institution), each normally serving on the panel for three years. The panel will consider any dissertation submitted for a doctorate in the British Isles in what is commonly understood to be the field of computer science. Theses which are essentially in another discipline, despite making use – even very extensive use – of computing, will not be regarded as eligible. A university is limited to three dissertation submissions per year, and one per research group.

In the spring of each year a call for nominations is circulated with a closing date in April. Theses awarded a degree from January of the preceding year up to the closing date are eligible. Judging takes place over the summer, based on reviews of each thesis garnered from international experts in the area; the panel selects from the submissions a small number of dissertations which it regards as exemplary, and one overall winner. The results are announced in the autumn and, whenever possible, the prize winner receives his / her award at the prestigious BCS Roger Needham Lecture, held at the Royal Society.

Information on last year’s competition may be found here.