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Nominations for the Mid-Career and Dissertation Awards

The High Energy Astrophysics Executive Committee is now accepting nominations for the HEAD Mid-Career Prize, and the HEAD Dissertation Prize. Descriptions of these prizes are below, and see https://head.aas.org/awards for detailed information.  Please consider submitting a nomination.

Nominations received until March 1, 2017 will receive full consideration

(Update: the Dissertation Prize Deadline for Nominations has been extended to March 15)

The HEAD Mid-Career Prize is awarded every 18 months for a significant advance or accomplishment (observational or theoretical) in High Energy Astrophysics by an individual astrophysicist within fifteen years of receiving their PhD. The prize is administered by the AAS HEAD executive committee. The cited body of work should be published in a refereed journal within the past five years, and originally published within fifteen years of the nominee receiving their PhD. Allowance will be made for time off because of maternity/paternity leave or other valid gaps. The prize will amount to $1500 with corrections every 5 years for inflation. The winner will give an invited talk at the Divisional Meeting in the award year. Travel expenses will be paid. The nomination letter should state the specific paper(s) for consideration, along with a description of their larger relevance to the field. In the case of a nomination based on paper(s) with multiple authors, the nomination should describe the nominee's specific contributions to the work. Self nominations will be allowed. Previous nominees from other rounds (who fall within the 15 year time window of eligibility) must be re-nominated to be considered for the current Prize. Nominations should be e-mailed to the HEAD Secretary at headsec@aas.org with the subject line "HEAD Mid-Career Prize Nominations".

The HEAD Dissertation Prize will be awarded at the 16th Divisional Meeting in Sun Valley (August 20-24, 2017).  This prize is awarded to recognize an outstanding doctoral dissertation in high-energy astrophysics.  Those who have received their degrees within the 3 years prior to the HEAD meeting date are eligible for the prize. Those who have not had their degree conferred by the deadline should wait for the next opportunity to apply.  The winner of the prize will receive a certificate, a cash award of $1000, and an invitation to give a 30-minute invited talk at the 16th HEAD Meeting. The HEAD will waive the meeting registration fee for the winner and cover up to $1500 of the winner's travel expenses to attend the meeting. Nomination materials should be submitted via email to the HEAD Secretary at headsec@aas.org with the subject line "HEAD Dissertation Prize Nomination". Self-nominations are not accepted. The following materials should be submitted:

  1. A 3-page summary of the thesis (not to exceed 5 pages total including figures and bibliography);
  2. A nomination letter, nominally by the thesis supervisor and acceptably by any HEAD member except the nominee, including a statement certifying that the PhD has been awarded;
  3. Two additional letters of recommendation;
  4. CV and publication list.

At least one letter must be written by a HEAD member. Letters of recommendation may be sent directly to the HEAD secretary at headsec@aas.org with the subject line "HEAD Dissertation Prize Letter of Recommendation". Self nominations are not allowed.