Proposal and selection of candidates

11 March 2022

• Nomination procedures for Union and division awards and medals
  • Nominations for the Union and division medals
  • Nominations for the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award
  • Nominations for the Union Service Award
  • Nominations for the Outstanding ECS awards
  • Nominations for the Angela Croome Award
• Selection of candidates and confidentiality
  • Policy for conflict of interest
  • Selection procedures

A person is eligible to receive one EGU/EUG/EGS medal only once in their lifetime, except for the Union medals, which can be assigned only once to any person, including previous division medal awardees. With regards to ECS, any candidate who complies with the Early Career Scientist definition is eligible to receive one outstanding ECS award in their lifetime. This can be either the Arne Richter Award for ECS or a Division ECS Award.

All past EGU awardees and medallists are eligible for the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award, provided they have not previously received it. The same applies to the Union Service Award.

Moreover, the following individuals are not eligible to be candidates for awards and/or medals during their terms of service and one year after the term is finished (meaning that the nomination for these individuals cannot be accepted during the year their term ended, but can be accepted the subsequent year):

• EGU president;
• EGU vice-president;
• Council members (not including ex-officio members);
• Chairs of EGU committees.

Similarly, members of the awards and medals committees are not eligible for that award/medal in the year they step down as committee members and the following year (term of committee members ends during the General Assembly when the award is conferred). Their nomination can only be accepted from the third nomination period after they leave the committee.

Recipients of EGU (including EUG and EGS) awards, with the exception of the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award, the Union Service Award, and the Angela Croome Award, cannot receive a lower-level recognition afterwards from the EGU (e.g., a recipient of a Union medal cannot receive a division medal).

It is possible to award recognition shared between individuals: in this case, the relevant recognition will not subsequently be awarded for as many years as the number of recipients exceeds one. Any candidate can be nominated for only one EGU medal or award each year. An ECS can be nominated for the division ECS award for one division only per year.

Awards and medals committee members, including ex-officio members, cannot submit nominations or write support letters for the awards or medals for which they are serving.

Nominations for all awards and medals are to be submitted online by the stipulated deadline (usually in June) of each year. Only EGU members can submit nominations for EGU medals and awards except for the Angela Croome Award. Proposals are then forwarded to the chair of the relevant award or medal committee. Nominations for EGU awards and medals are not automatically renewed for the subsequent year. A person can receive only one EGU medal or award each year. Self-nominations are not accepted except for the Angela Croome Award.

For the Angela Croome Award, nominations by both EGU members and non-members are accepted and self-nomination is possible. Past recipients are not eligible.

Nominations should include the following items and written in the English language:

Nominations for the Union and division medals

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 5000 characters and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, with particular focus on the candidate’s scientific contributions to the field, describing the importance, the impact on the discipline, and implications for the future of these contributions. The new views and insights that have been stimulated by the candidate’s work are particularly relevant.
• Supporting letters. Between three and five letters of support (maximum 5000 characters each) should be submitted. These letters should clearly establish the nominee’s recognised contributions to the field.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following items:
  • Curriculum Vitae (two pages). A summary of the candidate’s CV, including the candidate’s name, address, history of employment, degrees, research and teaching/supervising experience, honours, and service to the community, including service to EGU.
  • Selected bibliography (two pages). A list of selected publications by the candidate that best support the nomination. The candidate’s total number and types of publications and citations should also be briefly stated.

Nominations for the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 5000 characters and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, with particular focus on the candidate’s contributions to geoscience outreach and engagement, and the importance and impact of these contributions. The new views and insights that have been stimulated by the candidate’s work are particularly relevant.
• Supporting letters. Between three and five letters of support (maximum 5000 characters each) should be submitted. These letters should clearly establish the nominee’s recognised contributions to geoscience outreach and engagement.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following item:
  • Curriculum Vitae (one page). A summary of the candidate’s CV, including the candidate’s name, address, outreach experience, honours, and service to society.

Nominations for the Union Service Award

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 5000 characters and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, in particular focussing on the candidate’s scientific contributions to the Union.
• Supporting letters. One or two letters of support (maximum 5000 characters each). These letters should clearly establish the nominee’s contributions to the Union.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following item:
  • Curriculum Vitae (one page), with particular emphasis on the candidate’s activity in the Union.

Nominations for the Outstanding ECS awards

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 2500 characters and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, including the division to which the candidate’s research is most applicable.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following items:
  • Curriculum Vitae. A summary of the candidate’s CV (one page), including the date when their highest degree qualification was received.
  • Selected bibliography. A list of selected publications by the candidate that best support the nomination (half page).

Nominations for the Angela Croome Award

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 5000 characters and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, in particular focussing on the candidate’s contributions to Earth, planetary. or space science journalism, including how their work promoted discoveries relevant to Europe or European citizens.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following items:
  • Curriculum Vitae (one page). A summary, in English, of the candidate’s CV, including the candidate’s name, address, journalism experience, and honours.
  • Samples of reporting published within the past five years. Up to three samples of reporting that establish the nominee’s excellent contributions to Earth, planetary, or space science journalism. The samples may be in any language. Each submitted sample must be accompanied by a summary in English (maximum one page) providing a synthesis of the content and information to evaluate the value of the contribution.

Time schedule the Union and division awards and medals

Award and medal committees exclusively discuss and vote on the Union forums, and otherwise by email while keeping the chair of the UAC in carbon copy. If virtual meetings are organised, the minutes must be made available on the forum. The vote of the chair of the individual award or medal committee prevails in case of parity. Award and medal committee chairs and members are expected to keep strict confidentiality on the discussion that leads to the selection of the winners. The outcome of the selection by the award and medal committee is to be kept strictly confidential until Council approves the entire list of winners and the decision has been communicated to the winners.

Policy for conflict of interest

Any EGU award or medal is selected through a rigorous assessment of the candidates and their merits. The EGU Council, the award and medal committee members, and the Union and division officers are committed to soliciting the nomination of deserving individuals by avoiding conflicts of interest. Awards and medals may not be conferred in a given year if high-quality nominations are not received.

Candidates for the Union and division awards and medals are evaluated by the respective awards and medals committees before final approval by the Council.

If only one nomination is received for a Union or division medal, the UAC will assess the merits of the candidate and may seek the help of external peers to ensure that the candidate is high profile and deserving. The EGU reserves the right to not confer the medal when there is only one nomination. The assessment made by the UAC is approved by Council before medals are conferred.

Awards and medals committees must prevent conflicts of interest during the selection procedure. Awards and medals committee members should declare at the beginning of the selection procedure if they have any personal and/or professional relationship with any candidate, including:

• Known family relationship as spouse, child, sibling, or parent.
• Business or professional partnership.
• Past or present association as thesis advisor or thesis student.
• Collaboration on a project, a book, article, report, or paper within the last 5 years, and 10 years if a substantial number of co-publications are involved.
• Co-editing of a journal, compendium, or conference proceedings within the last 48 months.
• Having had substantial collaboration during their professional career.
• Current employment at the same institution.
• Previous employment at the same institution within the last 12 months.
• Being considered for employment at the institution.
• Being involved in any office, governing board membership, or relevant committee chairpersonship in the same institution.
• Having received an honorarium and/or award from the same institution in the past 24 months.

It is the responsibility of the chair of the award/medal committee to reveal any possible conflict of interest to the chair of the UAC.

The chair of the UAC, after consultation with the chair of the relevant award/medal committee, may decide to exclude an award/medal committee member from the consultation if the personal and/or professional relationship with any nominee is deemed to have a potential impact on the selection of candidates.

Members of awards and medals committees and the chair of the UAC may for other reasons determine that there are potential conflicts that require elimination from service in a committee.

Selection procedures

Awards and medals winners are selected according to the following procedures:

• Candidates for medals are evaluated by the respective medal committees and approved by the Council.
• Candidates for the Union Service Award are evaluated by the UAC and approved by the Council.
• Candidates for the Katia and Maurice Krafft and Angela Croome awards are evaluated by the relevant award committee and approved by the Council.
• Candidates for the Division Outstanding ECS Awards are first evaluated by the relevant division committee, which forwards the best candidate to the chair of the UAC. Four candidates are then selected by the Council and awarded at the Union level (Arne Richter Awards for Outstanding ECS). The remaining best candidates are awarded by the relevant division.

The president will then inform the awardees and medallists appropriately and will invite them to the next EGU General Assembly, where the awards and medals will be presented. The EGU office, on behalf of the chair of the EGU Awards and Medal Committee and the EGU president, will take all necessary actions for inviting the Union and division awardees and medallists to give an award/medal lecture at the General Assembly. In parallel, the Programme Committee of the next EGU General Assembly incorporates the corresponding potential award/medal lectures into the overall programme of the meeting, either as stand-alone lectures or as invited contributions in selected sessions.

The Arne Richter Awards for Outstanding ECS, the Union Service Award, and the Union medals are presented by the president during the EGU Awards Ceremony at the General Assembly, while the division medals are presented by the respective division presidents at the beginning of the medal lectures in question. The Union and division medallists, as well as the recipients of the Union Service Award, the Arne Richter Awards for Outstanding ECS, the division ECS, and the Krafft and Croome awards are introduced during the EGU Awards Ceremony. The presentation of the division ECS, the Krafft, and the Croome awards takes place at the beginning of the corresponding award lecture.