Any dissertation is eligible that is submitted for a doctorate in the British Isles in what is commonly understood as computer science. (Theses that are basically in some other discipline but that make use, even very extensive use, of computing will not be regarded as eligible.)  However, there is a limit of THREE dissertations per year per university, and one per research group within any university.

 To be considered, a dissertation should:

• make a noteworthy contribution to the subject;
• reach a high standard of exposition;
• place its results clearly in the context of computer science as a whole; and
• enable a computer scientist with significantly different interests to grasp its essentials.

 It is reasonable to submit a thesis to the scheme if it has all of the above qualities in good measure, and if it is comparable in standard with the top 10 per cent of dissertations in the subject. Long dissertations are not encouraged; if the main text is more than 80,000 words, there should be good justification.

The latest submission date for 2012 submissions is 2 April 2012.