Criteria

Candidates should have submitted their dissertation for a PhD, or equivalent higher research degree, in the general area of Control and Automation, for examination at a UK university during the calendar year preceding the closing date for nominations;
The time between the original date of registration for the research programme at the nominee’s university and the thesis submission date should be less than four years;
No restrictions are placed on the nominee regarding nationality or membership of the IET.

Nominations

Nominations must be received by 31 July 2011;
Nominations must be supported by references from three individuals;
The candidate’s principal research supervisor;
Another academic staff member from the nominee’s university;
A person from outside the nominee’s university.
All referees should have a PhD, or equivalent higher research degree;
No restrictions are placed on the referees regarding nationality or membership of the IET;
The referees should include the originality, significance, timeliness, potential impact and clarity of exposition of the thesis within the nomination form;
The nominee should write a personal statement of less than 1000 words that clearly points out the contribution of the thesis. Since members of the judging panel reviewing the nominations may not themselves be experts in the field concerned, the statement should make it clear to the generalist why the nominee deserves to receive the award.

Judging

The judging panel will only take into account the dissertation and the statements of the referees and the nominee;
One member of the judging panel will have to be a current or past member of the IET Control and Automation Executive Team, and the remainder of the judging panel will be made up of IET members who have an interest and background in the general area of Control and Automation;
The judges will be nominated and approved, on an annual basis, by the IET Control and Automation Executive Team;
There will have to be a minimum of three and a maximum of five members on the judging panel, with the majority of members holding full-time academic posts at a UK university;
All judges should have a PhD, or equivalent higher research degree;
Members of the judging panel are not allowed to have written a reference for any of the candidates;
No two members of the judging panel are allowed to be with the same institution or company;
Judges are not allowed to have been on the panel for more than three years;
The judging panel will have to reach a majority decision on the award;
Decisions will be regarded as final and no further correspondence relating to the allocation of the award can be entered into after the decision has been announced;
The judging panel reserves the right not to make an award.

If you would like to nominate for the Control and Automation Doctoral Dissertation Prize please complete the nomination form.

All completed forms should be sent to:

Janine Mitchell
IET Knowledge Management
Michael Faraday House
Six Hills Way
Stevenage
Hertfordshire
SG1 2AY
United Kingdom
Email: Janinemitchell@theiet.org