The Board of Directors of A&A attributes two yearly awards for outstanding research published in A&A by individuals in the initial stages of their careers. With these two awards, the Board wishes to express its appreciation, and contribute to the enthusiasm, of the new generation of researchers who will be shaping astronomy for the decades to come.
A&A Best PhD Thesis Award
This award recognizes a single individual who has completed a PhD in the last two years and published part of their thesis work as lead author of at least one article in A&A.
Eligibility criteria and required documentation:
- The applicant must have successfully defended their PhD thesis between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2023.
- The eligibility period can be extended by 12 months for parental leave, or by the duration of any leave of absence, upon submission of an accompanying letter of justification.
- The applicant must be the lead author of an A&A article directly related to the thesis on which the application is based.
- The article must have been formally accepted by A&A before the end of 2023.
- The application must include:
- The A&A article that is the basis of the application (only one article)
- Summary of the PhD research (one page, max)
- Statement explaining why the applicant should receive the award (one page, max)
- CV
- Publication list, with a short description of the applicant’s role in each article
- Two letters of support
- Thesis completion certificate (Any delay in obtaining the certificate should be communicated. It will not invalidate the application at the submission stage).
A&A Early Career Award
This award recognizes a single individual who is in an early career stage and has published high quality internationally recognized research in A&A as lead author.
Eligibility criteria and required documentation:
- The applicant must have received their PhD between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2021.
- The eligibility period can be extended by 12 months for parental leave, or by the duration of any leave of absence, upon submission of an accompanying letter of justification.
- The applicant must be the lead author of the A&A article on which the application is based.
- The article must have been published between 2019 and 2023.
- The application must include:
- The A&A article that is the basis of the application (only one article)
- Summary of the research (one page, max)
- Statement explaining why the applicant should receive the award (one page, max)
- CV
- Selected list of up to ten publications, with a short description of the applicant’s role in each article
- Two letters of support
Award description
The A&A awards will be announced at a ceremony during the EAS annual meeting. Each Awardee will be given a certificate by the Chairperson of the A&A Board of Directors and presented with a cash prize of 2000 Eur. A&A awards cover the expenses associated with participation in the ceremony.
Key dates for the 2024 A&A Awards:
- October 19, 2023 – Applications open
- November 30, 2023 – Application deadline
- Mid-February 2024 - Awardees informed
SUBMISSION: All applications must be submitted electronically to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as a single PDF file, with the documents organized in the order listed in the eligibility criteria.