The first ESSA Distinguished Dissertation Award was given in 2014 to PhD. Dr. Amineh Ghorbani (TUDeft, NL) for a dissertation entitled Structuring Socio-technical Complexity – Modelling Agent Systems Using Institutional AnalysisStructuring Socio-technical Complexity – Modelling Agent Systems Using Institutional Analysis”. The winner was awarded at the closing cerimony of Social Simulation Conference 2014 in Barcelona.