volker heine early-career investigator award

The Psi-k Volker Heine Early-Career Investigator (VHECI) Award recognizes individuals for their outstanding contribution to computational science in the areas covered by the Psi-k mission statement (“…to develop fundamental theory, algorithms, and computer codes in order to understand, predict, and design materials properties and functions”).

Early-career investigators are invited to put themselves forward for the Psi-k VHECI Award. Any member of the Psi-k community may also nominate an early-career investigator for the award.

Eligibility

1. Applicants may be of any nationality working anywhere in the world.

2. The PhD certificates of the early-career investigator must be dated not prior to 25th August 2020. Those who have not yet completed a PhD can also apply.

3. The eligibility period set out in point (2) can be extended for certain, properly documented, circumstances (including parental leave). We adopt the approach of the European Research Council, reproduced in Annex 1.

Application 

The following documents, merged as a single PDF file (max size 10 MB), must be uploaded (see link "VHECI candidate file" below) by 28th February 2025 (23:59 CET):

• The name and contact details of the person submitting the application, and the name and contact details of the early-career investigator candidate (these can be the same in case of self-nomination).

• A summary (including title and a text of maximum 150 words). In the case of self-nomination, and if successful, this will be the abstract for the Psi-k Conference VHECI Symposium.  

• A description of up to two pages making the case for the importance of the scientific contribution, including up to 5 hyperlinks to the relevant publications or websites.

• An extended CV (including list of publications and talks and posters), up to a maximum of 4 pages, reflecting the status as of the deadline for application.

• Evidence of satisfying the condition of regulation (2) above (e.g., copy of PhD certificate).

• Supporting evidence for any requested extension of the eligibility period set out in point (2) above. 

In addition, up to two confidential support letters should be submitted directly (not by the candidate themself) to the separate link labeled “VHECI support letters” below. One of the letters should contain a statement assessing the contribution of the candidate to the work presented in their application, compared to that of other coworkers. One of the letters (can be the same) should also contain a statement that certifies that the candidate meets the requirements of regulation (2) above. These letters must be received by 14th March 2025 (23:59 CET) and must include full contact details and position of the supporting person.

Procedure

A shortlisting panel of Psi-k members appointed by the Board of Trustees will select up to five candidates who will be invited to present their work at the Psi-k 2025 Conference. After these presentations, the award committee will select the winner.

The winner and the other finalists will receive their award of 1500 € and 500 €, respectively, together with a certificate, during a ceremony at the conference.

Award committee

The award committee will consist of the shortlisting panel — Nicola Marzari (chair), Lilia Boeri, Michele Ceriotti, Mike Payne, Nicola Spaldin — as well as selected invited speakers of the Psi-k 2025 Conference. 

Contact

• For technical questions regarding file upload: conference secretariat

• For general questions (eligibility, etc.): committee chair Nicola Marzari

Previous awards (winner in bold)

2010   Claudio Attaccalite, Christoph Freysoldt, Matteo Gatti, Samir Lounis, Alexandre Tkatchenko

2013   Xavier Andrade, Michele Ceriotti, Nicholas D.M. Hine, Cheol-Hwan Park, Tim Wehling

2015   Marco Bernardi, Andreas Grüneis, Fabio Caruso, Ion Errea, Johanna Fuks

2018   Jan Gerit Brandenburg, Viktor Ivády, Yaroslav Kvashnin, Reinhard J. Maurer, Bartomeu Monserrat

2021   Bingqing Cheng, Johannes Flick, Federico Grasselli, Lionel Lacombe, Tianyu Zhu

Annex 1: Extension of eligibility period

• Maternity: 18 months extension for each child born before or after the date of the successful defence of their first PhD degree. If an applicant can document a longer total maternity leave, the eligibility period will be extended by the documented amount of actual leave(s) for all children taken before the call deadline.
• Paternity: extension by the documented time of paternity leave taken before the call deadline for each child born before or after the date of the successful defence of their first PhD degree.
• Long-term illness [2] or national service: extension by the documented amount of leave taken by an applicant before the call deadline for each incident, which occurred after the date of the successful defence of their first PhD degree.
• Disability [3]: Extension corresponding to the reduced amount of working time (including leave taken) and/or the degree of disability as documented by an applicant, before the call deadline, and which occurred after the date of the successful defence of their first PhD degree.
• Clinical training: extension by the documented amount of clinical training received by an applicant after the reference date of the first eligible degree and before the call deadline, up to a maximum of 4 years.
• Major disasters [4]: extension by the documented time of an applicant’s inability to work [5] before the call deadline due to a major disaster, which occurred after the date of the successful defence of their first PhD degree.
• Seeking asylum: extension by the documented time of an applicant’s inability to work before the call deadline due to seeking asylum [6], which occurred after the date of the successful defence of their first PhD degree.