ECCM22

Best PhD Thesis Award

Composite micrograph used as the banner background

Objective

The best PhD Thesis Award aims to encourage high-quality work amongst early career researchers in their doctoral research period in Europe and to recognise the best PhD contributions in the field of composite materials.

Award

The award will be delivered during the 22nd European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM22), to be held in Oslo (Norway), from 21-25 June 2026. 

The winners of the award will be invited to attend and present their doctoral research at ECCM22 (with fees waived and an invitation to the Conference Dinner), where they will receive a certificate for their award. After attending the conference, the winners will also receive €1,500 to assist with travel, accommodation, and subsistence expenses.

Eligibility

Eligible candidates are those who officially obtained a PhD degree and successfully defended it in 2024 or in 2025, awarded by an institution located in Europe. The PhD thesis should be focused on any aspect of composites (e.g., synthesis, manufacture, mechanics, etc), and can be experimental and/or computational.

Assessment criteria

The overall criterion is research excellence, which includes:

  • Novelty (in method and/or outcome).
  • Scientific quality (soundness, rigour, depth, and difficulty).
  • Significance and impact (scientific, industrial, and/or societal).
  • Quality of communication (structure, language, conciseness, and visuals).

The detailed criteria are provided in the 2024-205 grading rubrics. 

The above will be judged using the following elements as evidence:  

  • An Executive Summary (in English, 4 pages maximum, including text, figures, tables, and references). This will be the main element used to shortlist the applications, so candidates are encouraged to prepare it with utmost care and in line with the assessment criteria defined above.
  • 5 keywords among the ones proposed in the 2024-2025 keyword list.
  • The PhD thesis (in any language).
  • The journal papers (published, submitted, and in preparation) and patents stemming from the thesis.
  • A nomination from the PhD supervisor (in English, 1 page maximum), focusing on the following: (i) the candidate’s role and independence in the research (from conception to conclusion); (ii) the extent to which the research and thesis benefited from contributions from others; and (iii) any special circumstances. A supervisor may nominate only one candidate per year (i.e., one for 2024 and one for 2025).
  • A 1-page CV of the candidate. 

These elements will be assessed by a panel of ESCM members, selected to achieve the following:

  • No conflict of interest with any of the applications (the candidates are asked to review the list of ESCM members and disclose any potential conflicts of interest).
  • To include a wide range of expertise in the topic of the theses (based on the keywords provided by the applicants).

Application process

Applicants should fill in the following form, where they will be able to provide all the information required and ensure they have prepared the necessary documents. Once the form is filled, please export it as a PDF and send it along with the required file to contact@escm-eu.org, with Soraia Pimenta (soraia.pimenta@imperial.ac.uk), Clemens Dransfeld (c.a.dransfeld@tudelft.nl), and Sotirios Grammatikos (sotirios.grammatikos@ntnu.no) in CC.

Please, name the required files with the following convention:

  • {edition}_ESCM_best_PhD_award_{Firstname}_{Lastname}_form.pdf
  • {edition}_ESCM_best_PhD_award_{Firstname}_{Lastname}_thesis_certificate.pdf
  • {edition}_ESCM_best_PhD_award_{Firstname}_{Lastname}_executive_summary.pdf
  • {edition}_ESCM_best_PhD_award_{Firstname}_{Lastname}_keywords.pdf
  • {edition}_ESCM_best_PhD_award_{Firstname}_{Lastname}_thesis_manuscript.pdf
  • {edition}_ESCM_best_PhD_award_{Firstname}_{Lastname}_nomination_letter.pdf
  • {edition}_ESCM_best_PhD_award_{Firstname}_{Lastname}_CV.pdf

The application deadline for the 2024 and 2025 editions is on 31 January 2026. No extensions will be allowed in any case, to allow for sufficient time to review the applications and communicate the outcome to the candidates by 30 April 2026. 

For any questions regarding the ESCM Best PhD Award, please contact Soraia Pimenta (soraia.pimenta@imperial.ac.uk), Clemens Dransfeld (c.a.dransfeld@tudelft.nl), and Sotirios Grammatikos (sotirios.grammatikos@ntnu.no).

Winners

2023

Honourable mention certificate was delivered to:

2022 

Honourable mention certificate was delivered to: