Dissertation Award in Nuclear Physics
The Dissertation Award in Nuclear Physics recognizes doctoral thesis research of outstanding quality and achievement in nuclear physics. The annual award consists of $2,500, a certificate, travel reimbursement, and a registration waiver to receive the award and give an invited talk at the Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics.
Rules and eligibility
Nominations are open to any person who has received a PhD in experimental or theoretical nuclear physics from a North American university within the two-year period preceding the current nomination deadline.
Process and selection
Nominations should include:
- APS Prizes and Awards nomination form (nominee’s contact information, thesis date)
- A letter of support from the nominee's PhD thesis advisor
- Two additional letters of support
- A copy of the proposed candidate's thesis
If a candidate is not selected, they may be renominated for this award provided all other eligibility criteria are still met. In this case a new nomination package must be submitted.
Establishment and support
This award was endowed in 1985 by members and friends of the Division of Nuclear Physics. It was given bi-annually until becoming an annual award in 1999.
Recent recipients
Evan Rule
2024 recipient
For the timely development of a flexible and fully general effective theory of muon-to-electron conversion. The formulation establishes an interface between the nuclear and particle physics components of this process that will encourage coordination between the two communities.
Matthew Ramin Hamedani Heffernan
2024 recipient
For the application of state-of-the-art Bayesian analysis techniques in the determination of transport coefficients of strongly interacting matter, and for first-time investigations of multistage simulation approaches in heavy-ion collisions with statistical learning methods.
Agnieszka Sorensen
2023 recipient
For an innovative approach to study the speed of sound in dense nuclear matter using moments of baryon distributions and developing of a framework of simulations and modeling of QCD phases and transitions in nucleus-nucleus collisions.
Aobo Li
2023 recipient
For the invention of a novel machine learning algorithm that broke down significant technological barriers with monolithic liquid scintillator detectors and, in turn, delivered the world’s most sensitive search for neutrinoless double beta decay.
Erika M. Holmbeck
2022 recipient
For thesis work elucidating the nature of the rapid neutron-capture process, including actinide production in the early Universe, with an innovative combination of nuclear network calculations and spectroscopic observations of metal-poor stars in the Milky Way.
The membership of APS is diverse and global, and the nominees and recipients of APS Honors should reflect that diversity so that all are recognized for their impact on our community. Nominations of members belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented in physics, such as women, LGBT+ scientists, scientists who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), disabled scientists, scientists from institutions with limited resources, and scientists from outside the United States, are especially encouraged.
Nominees for and holders of APS Honors (prizes, awards, and fellowship) and official leadership positions are expected to meet standards of professional conduct and integrity as described in the APS Ethics Guidelines. Violations of these standards may disqualify people from consideration or lead to revocation of honors or removal from office.