The Royal Astronomical Society invites nominations for the Michael Penston Prize, to be awarded for the best doctoral thesis in Astronomy or Astrophysics. The prize of £1000 is sponsored by Wiley -Blackwell and is open to students of all nationalities registered at Universities in the United Kingdom, and is not restricted to Fellows of the RAS.
The winner of the prize will be expected to give a short presentation on their thesis to an Ordinary Meeting of the Society, and where appropriate to collaborate with the organizers in publicising the work to the general public.
To be eligible, the thesis must have been:
* written on a topic in Astronomy or Astrophysics (excluding planetary sciences, for which the Keith Runcorn Prize is available)
* submitted to a University in the United Kingdom
In case of doubt concerning the eligibility of a particular thesis, the chair of the judging panel will have discretion on whether to accept the entry and such a decision will be final.
The competition will be judged by consideration of the initial nomination, the thesis abstract and the two confidential references. The judges will assess this material independently and then confer to declare the winner.
Nominations should:
* be submitted, normally, by the student's examiner or supervisor
* be in the form of a citation of not more than 500 words
* be accompanied by a copy of the thesis abstract
* contain the names of two referees familiar with the thesis, at least one of whom should be affiliated to an academic or research establishment other than that of the candidate. Suitable referees would be the candidate's internal and external examiners for the doctorate.
Nominations for the award must be received by the Executive Secretary by January 31 of the year following that in which the thesis was recommended for the award of a doctorate by the examiners viz while students do not need to have attended a graduation ceremony they do need to have successfully defended their thesis in a viva and submitted final corrections which have been approved by their University.
The Executive Secretary
The Royal Astronomical Society
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London W1J 0BQ
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