Nominations are invited for the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award and the IJCAI Award for Research Excellence which will be presented at IJCAI-13 in Beijing, China in August 2013.

See http://www.ijcai.org/awards for details about these awards, including past winners.

Nominations for these awards are invited from everyone in the AI community. A nomination package consists of a nomination form from one nominator, and reference forms from between two and four references, as follows:

Nominees: Nominees for the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award cannot be older than 35 at the start of the IJCAI conference (and so must be born on or after August 6, 1977 for IJCAI-13). There are no restrictions on who can be nominated for the IJCAI Award for Research Excellence.

Nominators: Nominators for each award can be anyone. Typically, the nominator knows the nominee well, and locates the other individuals who agree to serve as references, ensuring that they do their parts on time to produce a convincing nomination package.

References: References for each award must have been at arm’s length from the nominee for the past 6 years. For the purposes relevant here, being at “arm’s length” means being at a different institution from the nominee, not having supervised or been supervised by the nominee, and not having done joint work with the nominee. Ideally, a reference is a well-known member of the AI community who has never had a close association with the nominee, but who can still vouch with authority for him or her.

Nomination and reference forms can be downloaded from the addresses below, and should be submitted by email to awards13@ijcai.org by October 25, 2012. Nominations submitted previously for the Research Excellence award in 2009 and 2011 will be automatically considered again, though the nominators are welcome to submit a revised nomination. Nominations previously submitted for the Computers and Thought award will not automatically be considered again.

IJCAI Computers and Thought Award

Nomination form: http://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-13_CT_Nomination.txt
Reference form: http://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-13_CT_Reference.txt

IJCAI Award for Research Excellence

Nomination form: http://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-13_RE_Nomination.txt
Reference form: http://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-13_RE_Reference.txt

Other supporting material (such as CVs, research papers, testimonials, news articles) will naturally be used in the preparation of the nomination and reference forms, but they should not be submitted.

To avoid duplication of effort, nominators are requested to send the name of the person they are considering to nominate by email to awards13@ijcai.org by September 25, 2012, so that people proposing to nominate the same individual(s) may be so informed and coordinate their efforts.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Only plain-text forms will be accepted and processed.

Suggestion to Nominators and References: The nomination and reference forms collect some factual data, but mainly ask for a statement in 2000 words or less of why the nominee
deserves the award. The Awards Committee is looking for evidence that the nominee has generated some of the most important and influential work in the field. Effective letters will therefore emphasize what the nominee has done and why it matters, in a way that is accessible to researchers from all areas of AI. This is especially critical for the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award where the nominee may not yet be known outside of a small area.

Important Dates for the IJCAI-13 Awards
September 25, 2012: Names of nominee due [email to awards13@ijcai.org]
October 25, 2012: Nomination and reference forms due [all forms emailed to awards13@ijcai.org]
August 6, 2013: IJCAI-13 Computers and Thought Award Presentation
August 8, 2013: IJCAI-13 Award for Research Excellence Presentation

Enquiries concerning nominations should be directed to the IJCAI Secretariat at s-t@ijcai.org or e-s@ijcai.org, or by phone at +49-767-203-8221 or +43-6991-180-8202.