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Werner von Siemens Award

Siemens

What is the Werner von Siemens Award?

A competition to identify the best PhD thesis, the best Diploma (Master’s) thesis and the Best basic science publication resulting from work carried out at Czech universities or in Czech research institutions. See more details in: Cena Siemens 2024 PhD Thesis_Summary  , Cena Siemens 2024 Diploma Thesis_Summary  , and Cena Siemens 2024 Basic research_Summary  .

Who can apply for the Werner von Siemens Award?

  • Best Ph.D. thesis award: those who have, in the 2 years preceding the deadline, defended an excellent Ph.D. thesis based on research carried out at a Czech university or Czech research institutions. There is no age limit.
  • Best Diploma (Master’s) thesis award: those who have, in the 2 years preceding the deadline, defended an excellent Diploma thesis based on research carried out at a Czech university or Czech research institutions. There is no age limit.
  • Best basic science result (publication): an individual or a team who have published the most important basic research result (publication in the 4 years preceding the deadline. This must arise from work carried out at a public or private research institution in the Czech Republic. The team members must all be below the age of forty, with the exception of one team member. Periods of career breaks for child-raising are taken into account (3 years per child added to the limit, the length of leave must be documented with an attached solemn declaration).

Why apply for the Werner von Siemens Award?

  • Recognition of the outstanding quality of your Ph.D. thesis/Diploma thesis/Basic research publication.
  • Financial reward for the best Ph.D. thesis winners
      - 1st Prize: 70 000 CZK student + 70 000 CZK supervisor
      - 2nd Prize: 40 000 CZK student + 40 000 CZK supervisor
      - 3rd Prize: 30 000 CZK student + 30 000 CZK supervisor
  • Financial reward for the best Diploma thesis winners
      - 1st Prize: 55 000 CZK student + 55 000 CZK supervisor
      - 2nd Prize: 40 000 CZK student + 40 000 CZK supervisor
      - 3rd Prize: 25 000 CZK student + 25 000 CZK supervisor
  • Financial reward of 300 000 CZK for the researcher/team winning the best basic science publication competition (1 award each year).
  • There are separate additional prizes awarded, specifically for Outstanding Female Scientific Performance (will be selected automatically from awardees), for an excellent PhD/Diploma thesis contributing to the development of Industry 4.0, specifically in the field of smart infrastructure and energetics (entrants tick if they want to be considered for this award at the application stage).

When to apply for the Werner von Siemens Award?

The deadline for applications is late Nov each year (with an internal IOCB deadline 14 days before the deadline if you require an IOCB Recommendation Letter)
The results are announced in Jan/Feb the following year and the awards are presented at a ceremony in middle of March.


  Do not hesitate to contact the Project Office for consulting, discussion or help on projectoffice@uochb.cas.cz.  
  If you require a Recommendation Letter from the IOCB, contact the Project Office by 14 days before the deadline to request it.  

How to apply for the Werner von Siemens Award?

  For Best Ph.D. thesis/Best Diploma thesis award:  
  1. Find and read guidelines
  2. Ask your supervisor to write a letter of recommendation for you (recommended)
  3. Prepare your Ph.D./Diploma thesis in PDF format
  4. Prepare a list of your publications in PDF format (optional for Diploma thesis, mandatory for Ph.D. thesis)
  5. Describe your contribution to the publications (Ph.D. thesis competition)
  6. Contact the IOCB project office to request a Recommendation letter from the IOCB (optional)
  7. Finalise your application and submit this via the online application form (in Czech) on Siemens web portal: Diploma thesis / Ph.D. thesis
    1. Online application form: (i) Author´s data; (ii) Supervisor´s data; (iii) Diploma/PhD thesis: name, date of defence, abstract, grade received, brief (150 words) justification of why this thesis should be selected;
    2. Ph.D./Diploma thesis in English, Czech or Slovak (mandatory, uploaded in PDF) (applicant)
    3. Recommendation Letter of the Supervisor (recommended, uploaded in PDF) (supervisor)
    4. List of applicant´s publications (optional for Diploma thesis, mandatory for Ph.D. thesis, uploaded in PDF) (applicant)
    5. Description of the contribution by applicant to the publications (mandatory for Ph.D. thesis, uploaded in PDF) (applicant)
    6. IOCB Recommendation Letter (optional, uploaded in PDF) (Project Office)

  For Best Basic science result:  
  1. Find and read guidelines
  2. Prepare a PDF of your publication
  3. Prepare a PDF with a confirmation of the date of first publication and citation report
  4. Contact the IOCB project office to request a Recommendation letter from the IOCB (optional)
  5. Finalise your application and submit this via the online application form (in Czech) on Ceny Siemens web portal
    1. Online application form: (i) Research team: group leader & other team members (including % contribution to the result, H index, description of contribution to the result (800 characters)); (ii) Research work (publication): name, short description (max 1800 characters), importance & contribution of the work (max 200 words) (main applicant)
    2. Research publication/result (mandatory, uploaded in PDF) (main applicant)
    3. Confirmation of the date of the first publication & citation report (mandatory, uploaded in PDF) (main applicant)
    4. IOCB Recommendation Letter (optional, uploaded in PDF) (Project Office)
    5. Solemn declaration confirming length of maternity/parental leave (if required, uploaded on PDF) (main applicant)
  • Contact the IOCB project office to request a Recommendation letter from the IOCB (optional, Project Office)
  • Finalised application has to be submitted via the Online application form (in Czech).

    • Contact: Siemens, s.r.o., Siemensova 1, 155 00 Praha 13 - Stodůlky, cenasiemens.cz@siemens.com


    IOCB

    IOCB awardees (8) of the Werner von Siemens Award:

    • 2023: David Dunlop, Lucie Ludvíková, Tomáš Slanina – Winners of Most Significant Result of Basic Research (Excited-State (Anti)Aromaticity Explains Why Azulene Disobeys Kasha’s Rule)
    • 2023: Michal Šimek (Ullrich Jahn group) commended for his PhD thesis (Tandem anionický sigmatropní přesmyk/radikálové reakce a jeho využití v totální syntéze přírodních látek)
    • 2022: Robin Krišťůfek (Jak Konvalinka group) commended for his Diploma thesis (Development of instrumentation and high-throughput screening methods for peptide ligand discovery and validation)
    • 2021: Hana Macíčková Cahová - Winner of the Award for Excellence in Women's Scientific Work (Dinucleoside polyphosphates act as 5'-RNA caps in bacteria, Nature Communications)
    • 2020: Daniel Bím, Martin Srnec, Mauricio Maldonaldo (Heyrovský Institute) and Lubomír Rulíšek - Winners of Best basic science result (A new thermodynamic factor controlling the kinetics of reactions with hydrogen atom transfer)
    • 2019: Jan Havlík - (Petr Cígler group) commended for his Ph.D. thesis (Design and synthesis of surface architectures on fluorescent nanodiamonds)
    • 2017: Václav Navrátil, Pavel Šácha, Jiří Schimer, Jitka Zemanová - Winners of Best Result of Development or Innovation (Vývoj technologie pro ultrasensitivní kvantifikaci enzymů a identifikaci jejich inhibitorů)
    • 2015: Pavel Kielkowski (Michal Hocek group) - Winner of the best Ph.D. thesis award (Nové funkcionalizované nukleové kyseliny pro aplikaci v chemické biologii)