Excellence in Doctoral Education Award
The EDEA recognizes excellence in doctoral education throughout UF academic programs.
Upcoming EDEA Application Cycle!
Planning for the 2026-2027 EDEA nomination cycle is in the works.
In the meantime, have questions? Contact us!
Through the Excellence in Doctoral Education Award (EDEA) each year, the Graduate School rewards a degree program that has shown across-the-board excellence in doctoral education.
Criteria for this award are anchored in the outcomes of the AAU PhD Education Initiative, which encourages institutional change, data transparency, and effective strategy.
The Graduate School bestows one EDEA award each year. It provides up to $5,000 to support graduate students with, but not limited to, conference travel support, technology, training, and other professional development.
Have questions or want to submit an application? Contact us!
This award is open to any UF academic program offering a doctoral degree.
Proposals ought to focus on strategies and practices by which the program strives for excellence as defined by this award’s evaluation criteria.
EDEA applications will be evaluated on the basis of these criteria from the AAU PhD Initiative:
- Student-Centered: The degree to which your graduate student needs are emphasized in programmatic decisions, recognizing a broad range of educational and professional interests, needs, and challenges.
- Career Pathways: The extent to which your program encourages and offers full career exploration across multiple industries for your PhD students.
- Visible: The way your program makes transparent to all stakeholders the full range of career pathways of your PhD alumni.
- Valued: How your department culture and structures are created in an intentional way to ensure that your PhD students feel supported as they prepare for their future careers.
- Viable: The extent to which your departmental resources are available and accessible to help your PhD students develop knowledge and sills to enter their chosen career path.
You must submit EDEA proposals as a single PDF file (no more than ten pages) that includes:
- An in-depth description of the five AAU PhD Initiative objectives listed under Evaluation Criteria on this webpage.
- A description of how your program intentionally designs programming for the full Graduate Student Life Cycle:
- An outline of ways in which you use data in decision-making and the transparency of those data to program stakeholders.
- A vision statement outlining the aspirational goals and metrics for the doctoral degree program.
- A letter of endorsement from your unit’s department chair or school director and your college dean.
EDEA recipients must submit a final report that details project outcomes, assessment data, and recommendations for best practices in graduate student success within a one-year time period.
