The “Open Readings Research Excellence Award”, established by the Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, celebrates outstanding achievements in Physics and Natural sciences. The award is presented in two categories: Bachelor’s/Master’s and PhD students, recognizing significant contributions made over the past two years.
The winner of each category receives a prize totaling €3,000. This includes €2,500 worth of access to the Center for Physical Sciences and Technology services (https://www.ftmc.lt/open-access), valid for 365 days after the award ceremony, and €500 as a monetary award. This combination supports the winners in advancing their research and professional development. Eligible applicants must be enrolled students in Lithuanian or foreign institutions and conduct research in any of the given topics:
1. Astrophysics and astronomy.
2. Theoretical physics.
3. Materials science and nanotechnology.
4. Biochemistry, biophysics and biotechnology.
5. Chemistry and chemical physics.
6. Laser physics and optical technologies.
7. Biology, genetics and biomedical sciences.
8. Spectroscopy and imaging.
To apply, candidates must first register for an oral presentation in the conference (https://openreadings.eu/registration/). After that, an applicant registers in a separate registration form for the “Open Readings Research Excellence Award” and submits a detailed description of their recent scientific work over a two-year period starting from 2023/01/01, alongside published or in-review articles, national and international conference participation certificates or links to abstract books. It must be specified whether the given conference presentation was a poster or in oral form. In case you have received an award for your presentation, additional supporting documents must be provided. The registration form is presented at the bottom of the page. Please use the “Open Readings Research Excellence Award” template to describe your research.
All applicants must register, attend, and present their research in oral presentation format at the Open Readings conference.
Applications must be submitted by February 17, 2025. Evaluation consists of two stages. The first one is a quantitative assessment based on metrics such as number of publications, author positioning, journal classifications (Q1, Q2, Q3), as well as the number of oral and poster presentations at international and national conferences. The top eight candidates from each category, Bachelor’s/Master’s and PhD, will advance to the second stage, where a qualitative assessment focusing on research novelty, impact, and quality will be conducted. The evaluation is conducted by a panel of FTMC representatives, conference organizers, and invited field-specific experts as required. Winners will be decided on a score-based system which can be found in the PDF file “Open Readings Research Excellence Award Evaluation”.
Winners will be announced during the conference’s closing ceremony. Should a winning participant fail to make an oral presentation, the prize will be awarded to the next eligible candidate.
