DOCTORAL THESIS AWARD
In 2022, CARMA established an annual PhD Thesis award to recognize outstanding contributions of its members in the Canadian rock mechanics and rock engineering community.
Prof. Doug Stead PhD Thesis Award
This named award is in honour of Prof. Doug Stead’s many outstanding and ongoing contributions to Canadian rock mechanics and rock engineering, including open pit geomechanics and rock slope engineering, underground rock mechanics, numerical modelling, landslides, petroleum engineering, and laboratory testing, among others.
This award shall recognize an outstanding doctoral thesis in rock mechanics or rock engineering granted by a Canadian institution.
2024 Recipient
The 3rd Annual Prof. Doug Stead PhD Thesis Award was presented on September 16, 2024 at the Rock Mechanics Division’s Annual Meeting during the Canadian Geotechnical Society’s GeoMontreal Conference in Montreal, Québec, to Dr. Ghasem Shams for his PhD thesis completed at Université de Sherbrooke titled “Experimental study of micro-fracturing in rock and rock-mortar interfaces under direct and indirect tensile loading”. Dr. Jonathan Aubertin, Co-Chair of the Rock Mechanics Division, presented the award.
2023 Recipient
The 2nd Annual Prof. Doug Stead PhD Thesis Award was presented on April 30th, 2023 at the Rock Engineering Society Annual Meeting during the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Convention in Montreal, Québec, to Dr. Josephine Morgenroth for her PhD thesis completed at York University titled “Practical applications of machine learning to underground rock engineering”. Prof. Doug Milne, Chair of the Award Committee, presented the award.
2022 Recipient
The inaugural Prof. Doug Stead PhD Thesis Award was presented in August 2022 during RockEng22, the 22nd Canadian Rock Mechanics Symposium in Kingston, Ontario, to Dr. Jonathan Aubertin for his PhD thesis completed at Queen’s University titled “Characterization of rock salt response to blasting using terrestrial laser scanning technology”. Prof. Doug Stead kindly agreed to present the award.
Eligibility
Award nominees must have been members in good standing of CARMA during the nominating period. A nominator does not have to be a member of CARMA.
To be considered for an award, the candidate must be nominated within two (2) years of the date of the official doctoral degree certification (i.e., for the 2025 award, since December 31, 2022).
Selection Criteria
The recipient of this award may also be nominated by CARMA for the ISRM Rocha Medal; therefore, selection criteria similar to those of the Rocha Medal are applied. The Award Committee shall consider the following criteria and weightings:
- Problem Statement (10%): Description of the problem being addressed by the thesis.
- Appreciation of state-of-art (10%): Quality of literature review and bibliography; awareness of pertinent previous research; ability to convey concisely the state-of-the-art and add insight.
- Advancement of state-of-art (35%): Extent and quality of new work; logistical accomplishment of investigations performed; difficulty of problems and extent to which a solution is reached, verified (through field, laboratory, and/or numerical investigations), and explained.
- Practical application and usefulness (35%): Benefit to humankind in short and medium term, particularly in applied rock engineering, which may focus on any or all of civil, mining, or petroleum engineering; avoidance of natural hazards, economies and improved safety in construction, etc.
- Quality of presentation (10%): Format, use of headings, style, language, clarity, clarity of introduction and conclusions, etc.
Nomination Package
Each award nomination must include the following items:
- Cover letter including the full name and contact information of the nominator, and the author, title, and reference information for the nominated thesis;
- One page curriculum vitae of the nominee, including the name, nationality, place of birth, position held, postal address, telephone, and email;
- Abstract of the nominee’s contribution (up to 250 words);
- Significance of the nominee’s contribution (up to 500 words) where the nominator should explain the significance in terms of the award selection criteria;
- An electronic copy of the complete thesis document; and
- An electronic copy of the doctoral degree certificate.
Members of the Award Committee must not be related to or have a close professional, academic, or supervisory connection with one of the nominees. If a thesis is submitted causing such conflict of interest, the person concerned shall inform the Award Committee Chair, who will take appropriate action.
Selection Committee
Presentation
The award shall be presented to the recipient at a CARMA event, such as a RockEng Symposium.
If no CARMA Symposium is scheduled in a given year, the award shall be presented at an Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) Rock Mechanics Division or the Canadian Institute for Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum (CIM) Rock Engineering Society, in consultation with the award recipient.
The award shall be presented by Prof. Doug Stead, the CARMA Chair, or a designate.
Award Prize
The award recipient shall be given an award plaque or framed certificate naming the recipient, the title of their work, and her/his University.
CARMA, at its discretion, may pay for the travel and registration fee of the award recipient to the symposium/conference at which the award will be presented.
Submission and Selection Schedule - 2025
CARMA shall collect electronic award nominations at all times via email (contactus@carma-rocks.ca). The deadlines for 2025 are as follows:
| Deadline | Submission & Selection Stage |
|---|---|
| March 31, 2025 | Nomination submission deadline |
| April 8 | CARMA Chair distributes full details of nominations to each Award Committee Member |
| May 15 | Award Committee recommends award recipient to CARMA Executive* |
| May 30 | CARMA Executive ratifies or declines to ratify the initially recommended award recipient** |
| June 7 | If initial recipient is declined by CARMA Executive, Award Committee recommends alternate award recipient |
| June 15 | CARMA Executive ratifies final award recipient and informs the recipient in writing, or declines to ratify the award for the particular year |
*The Award Committee shall (i) review the nominees, (ii) compare nominations to selection criteria and rank the nominees, and (iii) recommend the name of the preferred award recipient to the CARMA Executive.
**In the event that an award selection is not ratified, the CARMA Executive may, at its discretion, request another recommendation from the Award Committee else no award shall be made for that year.
At the discretion of the Award Committee, if there are no suitable candidates in a particular year, the award does not have to be given that year.