Czexpats in Science Award

Czexpats in Science and Diana Biotechnologies proudly announce the competition for the Czexpats Award for early career Czech scientists working abroad in any scientific discipline.

Who is the Award for?

For early career Czech researchers working abroad in any field of the exact sciences, the social sciences or the humanities. The ideal laureate of the Czexpats Award has already achieved demonstrable success in his/her field, has an active positive relationship with the Czech Republic and a clear vision of how to contribute to the future development of his/her field and to society as a whole in line with the Czexpats in Science vision and goals.

Profile of ideal laureate

The ideal laureate of the Czexpats Award has qualities and skills that allow them to excel in their field and to make a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge. These qualities and skills include, but are not limited to, curiosity; perseverance; independence; critical thinking; open-mindedness; and moral, intellectual, and methodological integrity. The ideal laureate will have a clear vision for the future, want to contribute directly or indirectly to the development of the Czech scientific environment, and have the potential to become a leader and role model not only for their immediate colleagues and collaborators but also further afield, across disciplines and social strata.

Who is eligible for the Award?

• Czech citizens working outside the Czech Republic in any scientific field
• Must have a primary affiliation with a foreign institution and be physically spending more than half of their time abroad
• Must be studying for a doctoral degree or not have earned their PhD (or its equivalent) more than 7 years previously at the time of the application deadline (this period is extended by periods of parental leave or similar career breaks) 
• Applications are encouraged and welcomed from candidates working outside academia – e.g. in applied research and development in private companies, public administration, etc.

How to apply?

• Candidates can either apply themselves (self-nomination) or be nominated by their supervisors, mentors or collaborators.
• To apply or to nominate someone, a completed application form should be sent to cena@czexpats.org.
• Candidates nominating themselves should also attach their CV, candidates nominated by someone else will be invited by email to send their CV and thus confirm agreement with their nomination.

Timetable

• September 2023: call open for the competition 
• 31 October 2023: deadline for nominations
• November–December 2023: evaluations of applicants
• 22 December 2023: announcement of Award winners

Method of assessment

• In the first step, a formal check will be carried out to ensure that the basic criteria are met (e.g. eligibility of candidates, completeness and timeliness of the application form, length of responses on the Application Form).
• In the second step, an internal committee of Czexpats in Science (proposed by the Director and approved by the Steering Board) will select a maximum of ten finalists from all the applications received that meet the formal criteria
• In the third and final step, an Expert Jury will invite the finalists to a short online interview and then select 1-3 winners of the Czexpats Award. During the interview, the jury will focus in particular on the following questions:
  • Scientific excellence criteria
    How do you personally think excellent science is recognized? How is excellent science done and what conditions are needed for it? How do you personally contribute or want to contribute to such conditions?
  • Future vision
    What is your long-term professional vision? What are your career plans for the next 5-10 years? In what way do you want to contribute in this period to the advancement of human knowledge, to the development of the scientific environment in the Czech Republic or abroad, and to the development of your colleagues and collaborators towards the profile of the ideal laureate of the Czexpats Award?
  • Relationship to the Czech Republic
    Describe your relationship to the Czech Republic and to Czech science. How do you maintain a connection with your native country and the local scientific environment? How do you use your international experience to support development of Czech science? How else is your active positive relationship with the Czech Republic manifested? How do you plan to develop your relationship with Czech science in the future?
• In 2023 the Jury will consist of:
  • Markéta Icha Kubánková – co-founder of the Czexpats in Science initiative,
  • Martin Dienstbier – co-founder and CFO/COO of DIANA Biotechnologies,
  • Jiří Přibáň – Czech lawyer and sociologist who has been working abroad for a long time, currently at Cardiff University,
  • Lenka Zdeborová – Czech physicist and computer scientist who is currently a researcher at EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)
• The main criterion for evaluation by the Czexpats in Science Internal Committee as well as the Expert Jury is the extent to which the candidates fulfill the requirements based on the information in the application form.
• When evaluating the Significant Scientific Achievement, the Internal Committee and the Expert Jury will take into account the length of the nominee’s career to date.
  • The Internal Committee and the Expert Jury may use scoring of individual criteria as an aid in the evaluation process 
  • In addition, the Jury may, if necessary (especially if there are more than three very strong applications), contact the persons listed by the candidates as references
  • The final evaluation and the main output of the Expert Jury’s deliberations will be a consensus report (written justification) of why the selected laureates best fulfil the Ideal Laureate Profile. This statement of the jury will be published together with the announcement of the names of the laureates and other finalists.

Announcement and presentation of the Awards

• The jury will select a maximum of three Award winners based on the written consensus report. In the event of an insufficient number and/or quality of entries being received, the jury may decide not to grant the Award.
• The announcement of the Award winners will take place on 22 December 2023 as part of the Konference pod Stromečkem (Czexpats in Science Annual pre-Christmas conference) organized by Czexpats in Science.
• The Award winners will give a short lecture at the Conference as part of the presentation of the Award (if attendance of the conference in person is impossible due to serious reasons, it will be possible to present the Award online).
• The Award is also associated with media visibility of the finalists and laureates (see below), and a financial reward of 75,000 CZK in total. The Jury reserves the right to award up to three prizes in one year and to divide the prize money equally between the laureates or not to grant the Award at all.

Media coverage

• Editorially edited texts based on the Significant Scientific Achievement entry of all finalists will be published, together with their short biography, in the popular science journal Vesmír (issue 01/2024 or 02/2024). (If some texts do not meet the needs of the printed journal even after two rounds of editing, they will be published online only).
• The research of the laureates will also be communicated to the general public through various wide-reaching media.

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