Tag Archives: GWIC Thesis Prize

GWIC Thesis Prize and Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize for 2016: Call for Nominations

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PLEASE NOTE: The nomination deadline has been extended to 31 January 2017.

The Gravitational Wave International Committee is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2016 GWIC Thesis Prize and for the 2016 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize are now open. Both prizes recognize outstanding PhD theses in the general area of gravitational waves. To better serve the community, GWIC and the Friends of Stefano Braccini have moved to coordinate the two Prizes. There is a common call for nominations, and all theses submitted will be considered for both awards by a joint selection committee. Two winners will be selected, with the GWIC Thesis Prize emphasizing the impact of the research on the field of gravitational wave science, while the Braccini Thesis Prize will be awarded with an emphasis on innovation.

Members of the gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation. Each winner will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of US$ 1,000.

GWIC is privileged to nominate both thesis prize winners for publication in the book series Springer Theses. Subject to certain qualifications, Springer Theses publishes exceptional Ph.D. theses in the physical sciences in their entirety. If accepted, each winner will receive an additional 500 Euros from Springer upon publication.

Eligibility: Both prizes are awarded on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. Nominated theses may be in any language. A committee selected from the gravitational wave community will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. The selection committee will make all determinations about eligibility.

Nominations: Nominations should be submitted by 31 January 2017. The nomination package consists of (i) the thesis, (ii) a letter of nomination, preferably from the thesis advisor, and (iii) a supporting letter from another scientist familiar with the work. The nomination and supporting letters should describe the importance and novelty of the research and the student’s particular contribution.

Electronic submission of the thesis and letters is strongly preferred, with the thesis and the letters in separate pdf files. Electronic copies of the nomination materials may be sent to the Stan Whitcomb (stan[AT]ligo.caltech.edu). All submissions will be acknowledged; if an acknowledgement is not received shortly after the deadline, please contact the GWIC Secretary (gwic-exsec[AT]gravity.psu.edu).

If electronic submission is impossible, please contact the GWIC Secretary (gwic-exsec[AT]gravity.psu.edu) for instructions concerning paper submission.

2015 GWIC Thesis Prize and 2015 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize: Nomination deadline extended

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PLEASE NOTE:  The nomination deadline has been extended to 15 February 2016.

The Gravitational Wave International Committee is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2015 GWIC Thesis Prize and for the 2015 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize are now open. Both prizes recognize outstanding PhD theses in the general area of gravitational waves. To better serve the community, GWIC and the Friends of Stefano Braccini have moved to coordinate the two Prizes. There is a common call for nominations, and all theses submitted will be considered for both awards by a joint selection committee. Two winners will be selected, with the GWIC Thesis Prize emphasizing the impact of the research on the field of gravitational wave science, while the Braccini Thesis Prize will be awarded with an emphasis on innovation.

Members of the gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation. Each winner will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of US$ 1,000.

GWIC is privileged to nominate both thesis prize winners for publication in the book series Springer Theses. Subject to certain qualifications, Springer Theses publishes exceptional Ph.D. theses in the physical sciences in their entirety. If accepted, each winner will receive an additional 500 Euros from Springer upon publication.

Eligibility: Both prizes are awarded on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2015. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. Nominated theses may be in any language. A committee selected from the gravitational wave community will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. The selection committee will make all determinations about eligibility.

Nominations: Nominations should be submitted to the selection committee chair (Maura Mclaughlin) by 15 February 2016. The nomination package consists of (i) the thesis, (ii) a letter of nomination, preferably from the thesis advisor, and (iii) a supporting letter from another scientist familiar with the work. The nomination and supporting letters should describe the importance and novelty of the research and the student’s particular contribution.

Electronic submission of the thesis and letters is strongly preferred, with the thesis and the letters in separate pdf files. Electronic copies of the nomination materials may be sent to Selection Committee Chair (gwic-braccini-prize AT mail.wvu.edu, with a copy to the GWIC Secretary (at stan AT ligo.caltech.edu). All submissions will be acknowledged; if an acknowledgement is not received shortly after the deadline, please contact the GWIC Secretary (gwic-exsec AT gravity.psu.edu).

If electronic submission is impossible, please contact the GWIC Secretary (at gwic-exsec AT gravity.psu.edu) for instructions concerning paper submission.

GWIC Thesis Prize and Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize for 2015: First Announcement

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The Gravitational Wave International Committee is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2015 GWIC Thesis Prize and for the 2015 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize will soon be open. Both prizes recognize outstanding PhD theses in the area of gravitational waves. There will be a common call for nominations, and all theses submitted will be considered for both awards by a joint selection committee. Two winners will be selected, with the GWIC Thesis Prize emphasizing the impact of the research on the field of gravitational wave science, while the Braccini Thesis Prize will be awarded with an emphasis on innovation.

Members of the gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation. Each winner will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of US$1,000.

GWIC is privileged to nominate both thesis prize winners for publication in the book series Springer Theses. Subject to certain qualifications, Springer Theses publishes exceptional Ph.D. theses in the physical sciences in their entirety. If accepted, each winner will receive an additional €500 from Springer upon publication.

Eligibility: Both prizes are award on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2015. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. Nominated theses may be in any language. A committee selected from the gravitational wave community will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. The selection committee will make all determinations about eligibility.

A second announcement with instructions about how to submit nominations will be issued at the beginning of December.

GWIC Thesis Prize and the Stefano Baccini Thesis Prize

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I am pleased to announce that the joint selection committee for the GWIC Thesis Prize and the Stefano Baccini Thesis Prize have made their decision.

The 2014 GWIC Thesis Prize is awarded to Leo Singer for his thesis “The needle in the 100 deg^2 haystack: The hunt for binary neutron star mergers with LIGO and Palomar Transient Factory.” Dr. Singer received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology and was nominated by his adviser, Prof. Alan Weinstein. Dr. Singer’s thesis addresses the most challenging problem of joint observation of binary neutron star coalescence events by gravitational wave and electromagnetic detectors. It has two main aspects: (1) A new framework for near real-time sky localization scheme for gravitational waves (BAYESTAR), and (2) the development of wide-field searches for optical afterglow of GRBs using the Palomar Transient Factory telescope.

The 2014 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize is awarded to Yan Wang for his thesis “On inter-satellite laser ranging, clock synchronization and gravitational wave data analysis”. Dr. Wang received his Ph.D. from the Leibniz University of Hannover, and was nominated by his adviser, Prof. Karsten Danzmann. Dr. Wang’s thesis covers a diverse set of topics related to space-based gravitational wave detection using interferometric instruments such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and its brethren. The largest part of the thesis develops algorithms to synchronize clocks and improve the ranging accuracy via post-processing, thus significantly improving the ranging precision.

Leo and Yan will receive their awards at the Amaldi meeting in Gwangju, Korea, June 21-26.

There were 15 theses nominated for the two prizes. Links to the winning theses and a list of all nominated theses can be found at
https://gwic.ligo.org/thesisprize/
I would like to thank Archana Pai (chair of the selection committee) and the entire selection committee for their diligent service to the community. They are listed at the bottom of the page with all of the nominated theses:
https://gwic.ligo.org/thesisprize/2014/

GWIC Thesis Prize and Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize for 2014: Call for Nominations

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The Gravitational Wave International Committee is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2014 GWIC Thesis Prize and for the 2014 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize are now open. Both prizes recognize outstanding PhD theses in the area of gravitational waves. This call for nominations covers both prizes. A joint selection committee will select two winners, with the GWIC Thesis Prize emphasizing the impact of the research on the field of gravitational wave science, while the Braccini Thesis Prize will be awarded with an emphasis on innovation.

Members of the gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation. Each winner will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of USD 1,000.

GWIC is privileged to nominate both thesis prize winners for publication in the book series Springer Theses. Subject to certain qualifications, Springer Theses publishes exceptional Ph.D. theses in the physical sciences in their entirety. If accepted, each winner will receive an additional 500 EUR from Springer upon publication.

Eligibility: Both prizes are award on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2014. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. Nominated theses may be in any language. A committee selected from the gravitational wave community will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. The selection committee will make all determinations about eligibility.

Nominations: Nominations should be submitted to the selection committee chair (Archana Pai) by 15 January 2015. The nomination package consists of (i) the thesis, (ii) a letter of nomination, preferably from the thesis advisor, and (iii) a supporting letter from another scientist familiar with the work. The nomination and supporting letters should describe the importance and novelty of the research and the student’s particular contribution.

Electronic submission of the the thesis and letters is strongly preferred. Electronic copies of the nomination materials may be sent to , with a copy to . All nominations will be acknowledged.

If electronic submission is impossible, please contact for instructions concerning paper submission.

GWIC Thesis Prize and Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize for 2014: First Announcement

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The Gravitational Wave International Committee is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2014 GWIC Thesis Prize and for the 2014 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize will soon be open. Both prizes recognize outstanding PhD theses in the area of gravitational waves. There will be a common call for nominations, and all theses submitted will be considered for both awards by a joint selection committee. Two winners will be selected, with the GWIC Thesis Prize emphasizing the impact of the research on the field of gravitational wave science, while the Braccini Thesis Prize will be awarded with an emphasis on innovation.

Members of the gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation. Each winner will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of US$1,000.

GWIC is privileged to nominate both thesis prize winners for publication in the book series Springer Theses. Subject to certain qualifications, Springer Theses publishes exceptional Ph.D. theses in the physical sciences in their entirety. If accepted, each winner will receive an additional €500 from Springer upon publication.

Eligibility: Both prizes are award on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2014. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. Nominated theses may be in any language. A committee selected from the gravitational wave community will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. The selection committee will make all determinations about eligibility.

A second announcement with instructions about how to submit nominations will be issued at the beginning of December.

GWIC Thesis Prize and Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize for 2013: Call for Nominations

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The Gravitational Wave International Committee is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2013 GWIC Thesis Prize and for the 2013 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize are now open. Both prizes recognize outstanding PhD theses in the general area of gravitational waves. To better serve the community, GWIC and the Friends of Stefano Braccini have moved to coordinate the two Prizes. From now on, there will be a common call for nominations, and all theses submitted will be considered for both awards by a joint selection committee. Two winners will be selected, with the GWIC Thesis Prize emphasizing the impact of the research on the field of gravitational wave science, while the Braccini Thesis Prize will be awarded with an emphasis on innovation.

Members of the gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation. Each winner will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of US$1,000.

Since 2010, GWIC has recommended the GWIC Prize Thesis for the book series Springer Theses. Subject to certain qualifications, Springer Theses publishes exceptional Ph.D. theses in the physical sciences in their entirety. Beginning in 2013, the Braccini Prize winner will also be recommended to Springer. If accepted, the winner will receive an additional €500 from Springer upon publication.

Eligibility: Both prizes are award on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. Nominated theses may be in any language. A committee selected from the gravitational wave community will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. The selection committee will make all determinations about eligibility.

Nominations: Nominations should be submitted to the selection committee chair (Andrea Possenti) by 15 January 2014. The nomination package consists of (i) the thesis, (ii) a letter of nomination, preferably from the thesis advisor, and (iii) an optional supporting letter from another scientist familiar with the work. The nomination and supporting letters should describe the importance and novelty of the research and how it supports GWIC’s goal to support the development of gravitational-waves as an astronomical tool.

Electronic submission of the the thesis and letters is strongly preferred. Electronic copies of the nomination materials may be sent to gwic-braccini-prize@oa-cagliari.inaf.it, with a copy to stan@ligo.caltech.edu. Please note the following two restrictions on the names of files which can be handled at these addresses:

i) The filename cannot contain more than 1 dot (i.e “.”). A file like mythesis.pdf is ok, while a file like my.thesis.pdf will be rejected.

ii) The filename cannot contain blank spaces, i.e. a file like “my thesis.pdf” will be rejected.

If electronic submission is impossible, please contact stan@ligo.caltech.edu for instructions concerning paper submission.

GWIC Thesis Prize and Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize for 2013: 1st Announcement

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The Gravitational Wave International Committee is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2013 GWIC Thesis Prize and for the 2013 Stefano Braccini Thesis Prize will soon be open. Both prizes recognize outstanding PhD theses in the general area of gravitational waves. To better serve the community, GWIC and the Friends of Stefano Braccini have moved to coordinate the two Prizes. From now on, there will be a common call for nominations, and all theses submitted will be considered for both awards by a joint selection committee. Two winners will be selected, with the GWIC Thesis Prize emphasizing the impact of the research on the field of gravitational wave science, while the Braccini Thesis Prize will be awarded with an emphasis on innovation.

Members of the gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation. Each winner will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of US$1,000.

Since 2010, GWIC has recommended the GWIC Prize Thesis for the book series Springer Theses. Subject to certain qualifications, Springer Theses publishes exceptional Ph.D. theses in the physical sciences in their entirety. Beginning in 2013, the Braccini Prize winner will also be recommended to Springer. If accepted, the winner will receive an additional €500 from Springer upon publication.

Eligibility: Both prizes are award on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. Nominated theses may be in any language. A committee selected from the gravitational wave community will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. The selection committee will make all determinations about eligibility.

A second announcement with instructions about how to submit nominations will be issued on December 1.

2012 GWIC Thesis Prize: Call for Nominations

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The Gravitational Wave International Committee (GWIC) was formed to promote international collaboration and cooperation in the construction, operation and use of gravitational wave detection facilities world-wide. To this end, GWIC has established an annual prize for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis based on research in gravitational waves.

Nominations for the 2012 Prize are now open. Members of the gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation. The recipient will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of $1,000.

Since 2010, GWIC has an arrangement with Springer. Subject to qualifying criteria, the prize-winning thesis will be nominated for Springer Theses, a new book series in which exceptional Ph.D. theses in the physical sciences are published in their entirety. The winner will receive an additional €500 from Springer upon publication.

Eligibility: The award is made on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. Nominated theses may be in any language. A committee selected from the gravitational wave community will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. The selection committee will make all determinations about eligibility.

Nominations: Nominations should be submitted to the selection committee chair (Michele Vallisneri, Michele.Vallisneri[AT]jpl.nasa.gov, with a copy to gwic-exsec[AT]gravity.psu.edu>) by 15 January 2013. The nomination package consists of (i) the thesis, (ii) a letter of nomination, preferably from the thesis advisor, and (iii) an optional supporting letter from another scientist familiar with the work. The nomination and supporting letters should describe the importance of the research and how it supports GWIC’s goals to promote construction and exploitation of gravitational-wave detectors, foster development of new or enhanced gravitational-wave detectors, and support the development of gravitational-waves as an astronomical tool. The thesis and letters may be submitted in electronic form (strongly preferred); please contact gwic-exsec[AT]gravity.psu.edu  for instructions concerning paper submission.

2011 GWIC Thesis Prize: Call for Nominations

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Nominations for the 2011 GWIC Thesis Prize are now open.

The Gravitational Wave International Committee (GWIC) was formed to promote international collaboration and cooperation in the construction, operation and use of gravitational wave detection facilities world-wide. To this end, GWIC has established an annual prize for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis based on research in gravitational waves (http://gwic.ligo.org/thesisprize/).

Members of the gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational wave science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation. The recipient will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of $1,000.

Since 2010, GWIC has an arrangement with Springer Publishing. Subject to qualifying criteria, the prize-winning thesis will be nominated for Springer Theses, a new book series in which exceptional Ph.D. theses in the physical sciences are published in their entirety. The winner will receive an additional €500 from Springer upon publication.

Eligibility: The award is made on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. Nominated theses may be in any language. A committee selected from the gravitational wave community will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. The selection committee will make all determinations about eligibility.

Nominations: Nominations should be submitted to the selection committee chair (Neil Cornish, cornish[AT]physics.montana.edu) by 15 January 2012. The nomination package consists of (i) the thesis, (ii) a letter of nomination, preferably from the thesis advisor, and (iii) an optional supporting letter from another scientist familiar with the work. The nomination and supporting letters should describe the importance of the research and how it supports GWIC’s goals to promote construction and exploitation of gravitational-wave detectors, foster development of new or enhanced gravitational-wave detectors, and support the development of gravitational-waves as an astronomical tool. The thesis and letters may be submitted in electronic form (preferred) or in hard-copy (five copies).

2010 GWIC Thesis Prize

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I am pleased to announce that the Gravitational Wave International Committee (GWIC) Thesis Prize for 2010 is awarded to Haixing Miao from the University of Western Australia, for his thesis “Exploring Macroscopic Quantum Mechanics in Optomechanical Devices”. We hope that we will be able to give Haixing his award at the Amaldi9 meeting in Cardiff.

This year, we again set a record for the number of nominations: seventeen theses from six countries. Moreover, with this award, Australia becomes the fourth continent to host a winner in the five year history of the GWIC Thesis Prize, demonstrating in the clearest fashion the truly global nature of gravitational wave research.

The nominees and their theses can be found at https://gwic.ligo.org/thesisprize/

We are most grateful to chair Viviana Fafone and the Selection Committee (Duncan Brown, Chris van den Broeck, Neil Cornish, Andreas Freise, Dick Manchester, Masa-Katsu Fujimoto, and Peter Shawhan) for their hard work.

GWIC Thesis Prize: Call for Nominations

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The Gravitational Wave International Committee (GWIC) was formed to promote international collaboration and cooperation in the construction, operation and use of gravitational wave detection facilities world-wide. To this end, GWIC has established an annual prize for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis based on research in gravitational waves.

Nominations for the 2010 GWIC Thesis Prize are now open. Members of the broader gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational waves science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation in the thesis.

Eligibility: The award is made on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010 to qualify for consideration. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. A committee representing the GWIC member projects will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. Nominated theses may be in any language. The selection committee will make the final determinations about eligibility.

Nominations: Nominations should be submitted to the selection committee chair (Viviana Fafone, viviana.fafone[at]roma2.infn.it) by January 15, 2011. The nomination package consists of (i) the thesis, (ii) a letter of nomination, preferably from the thesis advisor, and (iii) an optional supporting letter from another scientist familiar with the work. The nomination letter (and supporting letter if applicable) should describe the importance of the research and how it supports GWIC’s goals to promote construction and exploitation of gravitational-wave detectors, foster development of new or enhanced gravitational-wave detectors, and to support the development of gravitational-wave detection as an astronomical tool generally. The thesis and letters may be submitted in electronic form (preferred) or in hard-copy (five copies).

The GWIC Thesis Prize will be presented at the 9th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves (Amaldi9) in Cardiff, UK from 10-15 July 2011. The recipient will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of $1,000. The nominator is responsible to ensure that travel funds will be made available to send the winner to the Amaldi Conference to receive the prize.

Prizes and Honors at the GR19 Conference in Mexico City

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AWARDS FOR BEST PRESENTATIONS DURING GR19
Session Chairs will send their nominations for the best student and post-doc presentations during GR19 to Professor Donald Marolf, the Chair of the GR19 Scientific Committee. He will send an ordered list to the Executive Committee of the Society which will make the final selection soon after GR19, taking into account the geographic, gender and thematic balance. The students prizes, the Hartle Awards are sponsored by Professor James B. Hartle. The post-doc prizes, the S. Chandrasekhar Awards are sponsored by World Scientific.

***

THE JÜRGEN EHLERS THESIS PRIZE
for an outstanding Ph.D. thesis in mathematical and numerical relativity will be awarded to

DR NICHOLAS YUNES

The selection committee consisting of David Garfinkle (Chair), Bernd Brügmann, Bala Iyer and Alan Rendall prepared the following citation:

“For pioneering work on a variety of topics involving binary black holes, gravitational radiation, and Chern-Simons gravity”

This prize is sponsored by Springer to honor the memory of Professor Jügen Ehlers. See: http://grg.maths.qmul.ac.uk/grgsoc/ehlersprize.php It carries a certificate and a check for $1,500 and will be awarded during the opening ceremony of the 19th International conference.

***

THE BERGMANN-WHEELER THESIS PRIZE
for a outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the broad area of quantum gravity will be awarded to

DR VICTOR TAVERAS

The selection committee consisting of Stephen Carlip (Chair), Gary Horowitz, Theodore Jacobson and Carlo Rovelli prepared the following citation: “For contributions to loop quantum cosmology and the development of a novel extension of loop quantum gravity.”

This prize is sponsored by Classical and Quantum Gravity to honor the memory of Professors Peter Bergmann and John Wheeler, pioneers of the field of quantum gravity. It carries a certificate and a check for $1,500 and will be awarded in the opening ceremony of the 19th International conference.

***

THE GWIC THESIS PRIZE
for an outstanding Ph.D. thesis based on research in gravitational waves.

This is an annual award sponsored by the Gravitational Wave International Committee. See http://grg.maths.qmul.ac.uk/grgsoc/gwicprize.php It will be presented during the opening ceremony of the GR19 conference.

***

THE BASILIS XANTHOPOULOS INTERNATIONAL AWARD
will be presented to

DR STEFAN HOLLANDS

The committee consisting of Profs. Jorge Pullin (Chair), Piotr Chrusciel, Gary Gibbons, Nikolaos Stergioulas and Clifford Will prepared the following citation:

“For his contributions to the mathematical aspects of gravitational physics, especially concerning the theory of quantum fields in curved space-time. Dr. Hollands’ work helped bring this area of research to a new level of clarity and mathematical rigor.”

The prize is sponsored by the FORTH Foundation, Hellas, to honor the memory of Basilis Xanthopoulos and is given to a scientist, below 40 years of age, who has made outstanding (preferably theoretical) contributions to gravitational physics. See: http://grg.maths.qmul.ac.uk/grgsoc/xanthprize.php
It carries a certificate and a check for approximately $10,000. It will be awarded during the opening ceremony of the conference.

***

FELLOWSHIPS
The Society elected 10 Fellows in this first round. According to the rules governing this election, at least five had to be below 45 years of age. The Electors were Beverly Berger (Chair), David Blair, Misao Sasaki, and three ex-officio members Abhay Ashtekar (President), Clifford Will (Deputy president) and Malcolm MacCallum (Secretary). The new Fellows will be inducted during the Business Meeting of the Society.

* Alessandra Buonanno “For leading advances in the theory of general relativistic two-body dynamics and in the production and detection of gravitational waves”.

* Alejandro Corichi “For his significant contributions to loop quantum gravity and his leadership in numerous initiatives for the international gravity community”.

* Gabriela Gonzalez “For her outstanding contributions to the gravitational wave science and leadership in the LIGO Collaboration”.

* James Hough “For outstanding contributions in gravitational wave detection”.

* Don Marolf “For a broad range of insightful contributions to quantum gravity and quantum field theory in curved spacetime”.

* Roger Penrose “For his pioneering contributions to our understanding of global issues in general relativity which form many of the foundations of the modern era of gravitational physics”.

* Frans Pretorius “For his seminal contributions which have transformed the subject of numerical relativity”.

* Carlo Rovelli “For leading contributions to the field of quantum gravity, including loop quantum gravity and spin foam models, and for leadership in creating a vibrant quantum gravity community in France”.

* Madhavan Varadarajan “For his numerous insightful contributions to conceptually difficult and deep problems in classical and quantum gravity”.

* David Wands “For his seminal contributions to theoretical cosmology, particularly in the areas of cosmological perturbation theory”.

GWIC Thesis Prize: Call for Nominations

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The Gravitational Wave International Committee (GWIC) was formed to promote international collaboration and cooperation in the construction, operation and use of gravitational wave detection facilities world-wide. To this end, GWIC has established an annual prize for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis based on research in gravitational waves (http://gwic.ligo.org/thesisprize/).

Nominations for the 2009 GWIC Thesis Prize are now open. Members of the broader gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational waves science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation in the thesis.

Eligibility: The award is made on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 to qualify for consideration. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement. A committee representing the GWIC member projects will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. Nominated theses may be in any language. The selection committee will make the final determinations about eligibility.

Nominations: Nominations should be submitted to the selection committee chair (Martin Hewitson, martin.hewitson_at_aei.mpg.de) by January 15, 2010. The nomination package consists of (i) the thesis, (ii) a letter of nomination, preferably from the thesis advisor, and (iii) an optional supporting letter from another scientist familiar with the work. The nomination letter (and supporting letter if applicable) should describe the importance of the research and how it supports GWIC’s goals to promote construction and exploitation of gravitational-wave detectors, foster development of new or enhanced gravitational-wave detectors, and to support the development of gravitational-wave detection as an astronomical tool generally. The thesis and letters may be submitted in electronic form (preferred) or in hard-copy (five copies).

The GWIC Thesis Prize will be presented at the 19th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation (GR19) (http://www.gr19.com/) in Mexico City, from 5-9 July 2010. The recipient will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of $1,000. The nominator is responsible to ensure that travel funds will be made available to send the winner to the GR19 Conference to receive the prize.

GWIC Thesis Prize

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First Announcement of 2009 Prize

The Gravitational Wave International Committee (GWIC) was formed to promote international collaboration and cooperation in the construction, operation and use of gravitational wave detection facilities world-wide. To this end, GWIC has established an annual prize for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis based on research in gravitational waves (http://gwic.ligo.org/thesisprize/).

Members of the broader gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational waves science. Theses will be judged on 1) originality and creativity of the research, 2) importance to the field of gravitational waves and gravitational wave detection, broadly interpreted, and 3) clarity of presentation in the thesis.

Eligibility: The award is made on a calendar year basis. Theses should have been accepted by their institutions between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 to qualify for consideration. It is expected that many of the nominations will come from the member projects of GWIC, but this is not a requirement.

A committee representing the GWIC member projects will evaluate the nominations and select the winner. Nominated theses may be in any language – the selection committee will use consultants to help evaluate theses if they do not possess the required linguistic breadth. The selection committee will make the final determinations about eligibility.

The GWIC Thesis Prize will be presented at the 19th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation (GR19) (http://www.gr19.com/) in Mexico City, from 5-9 July 2010. The recipient will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize of $1,000.

Nominations: A Call for Nominations will be issued approximately November 1, 2009 with instructions about how to submit a nomination.