This annual award launched by IKDD in 2022, recognizes the best doctoral dissertation(s) in the broad areas of Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Mining, Knowledge Discovery and applications of Data-driven techniques. The IKDD Doctoral Dissertation Award winner and (at most two) runners-up will be recognized at the annual CODS-COMAD conference, and their dissertations will be published on the IKDD Web site (https://ikdd.acm.org/). The award winner will receive a plaque and a cheque for INR 1,00,000. The runners-up will receive a plaque and a cheque of INR 50,000. The winner and runners-up will also receive a free registration to attend the CODS-COMAD conference and will be invited to receive the award in a special session at the conference.

Eligibility

Nominated candidates must be from a PhD granting institute in India. Further, the nominated candidate should have successfully defended his/her thesis between August 31, 2025 and August 31, 2026 (i.e., in the period between last year’s deadline and this year’s deadline for application).

Nominated candidates must be from a PhD granting institute in India. Further, the nominated candidate should have successfully defended his/her thesis between August 31, 2025 and August 31, 2026 (i.e., in the one-year period before the deadline for the application).

Important: Every Ph.D. granting entity in India – where departments, centers, schools within the same institute will be treated as distinct entities – will be allowed to nominate 1 candidate each, working in relevant areas. An entity that produces more than 10 dissertations in relevant areas during the one year period under consideration can nominate 2 students. In such situations, entities should self-declare in case they are nominating 2 students and furnish supporting evidence in the form of a formal letter signed by an appropriate institutional authority (e.g., department/centre head, academic registrar, etc.).

Important Dates

• Submission Deadline: August 31, 2026
• Notification of Awards: Dec 1, 2026
• Award presentation at CODS 2026

Nomination Requirements

Nominations must be made by the doctoral advisor. All nomination materials must be in English and in PDF format. Late submissions will not be accepted.

1. Nomination letter by thesis advisor. This letter must include:
   1. The name, address, phone number and email address of the advisor.
   2. The name, mailing address and email address of the candidate.
   3. A one-page (200-300 words) nomination statement addressing why the nominee should receive the award. The nomination should explain the significance of the work in the context of Data Science. In particular, the nomination should focus on the significance of the work and not just repeat the contents of the abstract of the thesis.
   4. A concise statement (maximum of 25 words) describing the key technical or professional accomplishment for which the nominee merits this award. This would serve as the suggested citation for the award, in case the nominee is selected. Note that the final wording for awardees will be at the discretion of the Awards Committee.
2. An endorsement letter by the department head or a suitable substitute (in case of a conflict of interest).
3. At least 3, and not more than 5, supporting letters from experts in the field who can provide additional insights or evidence of the dissertation’s impact. The nominator/advisor may not write a letter of support. Each letter should include the name, address, and telephone number of the supporter.
4. One copy of the thesis in English in electronic (PDF) format.
5. A copy of the thesis review comments given by the external examiners.
6. A list of publications in conferences and journals based on the work reported in the dissertation, along with their citations (if any). The nomination should also include all the reviews received during the publication process.
7. A copyright transfer form signed by the appropriate authority in the candidate’s parent institute giving permission for the dissertation to appear on ikdd.acm.org website, if the dissertation is selected as an award recipient

The dissertation can be nominated concurrently for other national and global awards, such as the ACM, the ACM India and SIGKDD Doctoral Dissertation awards.