The GWIC Thesis 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 an outstanding Ph.D. thesis based on research in gravitational waves. The International Society for General Relativity and Gravitation helps administer this award.

Each year, members of the international gravitational wave community are invited to nominate students who have performed notable research on any aspect of gravitational waves science. Theses are 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.

The gravitational wave thesis prize was started initially by LIGO as a biannual prize, limited to students of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. The first award covered the period from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2005. In 2006, the thesis prize was adopted by GWIC, renamed, converted to an annual prize, and opened to the broader community.

The recipient receives a certificate of recognition and a prize of $1,000.

Eligibility: The award is made on a calendar year basis. Theses must have been accepted by their institutions between January 1 and December 31 of the year for which they are nominated 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 evaluates the nominations and selects 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 makes the final determinations about eligibility.

The GWIC Thesis Prize is awarded alternately at the Amaldi Conferences on Gravitational Waves (in odd numbered years) and another appropriate conference (in even numbered years).

Nominations: A Call for Nominations is issued approximately November 1 each year with instructions about how to submit a nomination.