The Swedish association for media and communication research (Föreningen för svensk medie- och kommunikationsforskning, FSMK) are pleased to announce the initiation of the FSMK Doctoral Dissertation Award, to be given at the annual FSMK conference. The purpose of the award is to honour outstanding doctoral dissertations in the areas of Media and Communications and Journalism research (or a closely-related field), completed at Swedish institutions of higher education. Awarded dissertations will exhibit exceptional levels of originality and intellectual depth in terms of theory, methodology and/or analysis.

The award will consist of a prize (of all in all 5 000 kr), and the author will be offered to have an article published in Nordicom information based on the dissertation.

Nomination Process

In order to be considered for the FSMK Doctoral Dissertation Award, a student must have her/his completed dissertation nominated by their doctoral supervisor, co-supervisor and/or dissertation opponent, and the nomination must be made within two years of the final doctoral defence. Dissertations must be written in either Swedish or English, and in the area of Media & Communications Studies or Journalism (or a closely-related field, e.g. Strategic Communication).

Recommendations for dissertations that have not yet been completed, or for dissertations defended more than two prior to the recommendation, will not be considered. In addition, in order to be considered for the prize at the annual conference, nominations must be received by the FSMK board by no later than April 2^nd 2013. Nominations received after that date will be considered for the following year’s award.

Nominations must include the following:

1. name of the nominee;
2. dissertation title, date of final defence and name of opponent;
3. nominee’s host university and department/institution;
4. name and title of the nominating supervisor, co-supervisor(s) and/or opponent;
5. contact information for both nominee and nominating individual;
6. a copy of the doctoral dissertation;
7. a 750-word rationale for the nomination in which the nominating faculty member indicates how and why the dissertation in question is exceptional. The rationale (written in either Swedish or English) should clearly highlight the strengths of the work and contributions to the field. For dissertations outside of disciplines traditionally linked to Media and Communication Studies, the nominating faculty member should also indicate why they feel the dissertation should be considered of value to FSMK members and institutions.

Review Process & Award

All nominations received in time will be reviewed by the sitting FSMK board, and, based primarily upon the nomination statements (but also a brief review of the full work), three dissertations will be selected as finalists. The three dissertations in question will then be reviewed in detail by a committee, which makes a ranking of the three finalists. The decision of what dissertation will be selected as the award winner is made by the FSMK-board. The award winner will be notified in writing by the FSMK board, and the award will be given at the annual FSMK conference, which this year will be held in Jönköping on May 15^th.

Contact information

Nominations should be made to the FSMK board:

Christian Christensen (christian.christensen@im.uu.se)

or

Anna Roosvall (anna.roosvall@oru.se)

FSMKs board through Chair Margareta Melin (margareta.melin@mah.se)