2023 ICTP-SAIFR Prize in Classical Gravity and Applications

This prize recognizes doctoral thesis research of outstanding quality and achievement in the area of classical gravity and its applications in gravitational wave physics, astrophysics and cosmology. The annual award consists of $1000 Brazilian reais, a certificate, and travel and local expenses to present an invited talk at the annual ICTP-SAIFR Workshop on Classical Gravity and Applications.

Nominations (normally by the thesis advisor) will be accepted for any doctoral student (present or past) in any country in Latin America for work performed as part of the requirements for a doctoral degree. Nominees must have passed their thesis defense not more than 18 months before the nomination deadline of April 30 (i.e. defended their thesis after October 31, 2021 and before April 30, 2023). An individual can be nominated only once; however, an unsuccessful candidate will be carried over for one year.

Nominated candidates will be evaluated by an international committee including Vitor Cardoso (CENTRA/IST, U. Lisboa), Rodrigo Fernandez (U. Alberta), Walter Goldberger (Yale U.), Gabriela Gonzalez (Louisiana State U.) and Luis Lehner (Perimeter I.).

The next annual ICTP-SAIFR Workshop on Classical Gravity and Applications will take place in the second half of the year 2023.

Nomination & Selection Process 

Deadline: April 30, 2023

The nomination package should be sent by the nominator to gravityprize@ictp-saifr.org and include:

1. 1. Recommendation letter from nominator (normally the thesis advisor), detailing the contributions of the nominee and describing
      the nominee.

   2. The thesis manuscript in PDF format in either English, Portuguese or Spanish.

   3. A thesis summary of 2 pages in english prepared by the nominee.

   4. Two additional letters of support, at least one from outside the nominee’s institution.

   5. Nominee’s CV with list of publications.

Guidelines for recommendation letter writers:

1. Information on the writer and his/her connection with the nominee.

2. Explain the nominee’s personal scientific contribution and his/her skills known to the writer.

3. Specific anecdotes and examples are welcome, e.g. awards, special recognitions, etc.

4. Include contact information of the writer.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Winner:

• Iara Ota (UFABC, Brazil): “Black hole spectroscopy: prospects for testing the nature of black holes with gravitational wave observations“

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):

• Caroline Guandalin (USP, Brazil): “Statistical techniques for future surveys: extracting fundamental physics out of the large-scale structure“
  
• Eduar Becerra (U. Industrial de Santander-Bucaramanga, Colombia): “Geodesics in space-time of self-gravitating dark matter and its application to stellardynamics around the Galactic center“

Winner:

• Carlos Mauricio Correa (U. of Cordoba, ARG): “Cosmic voids as cosmological laboratories“

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):

• Marcos A. Argañaraz (U. of Cordoba, ARG): “Estructura y Características de Agujeros Negros Aislados con Momento Angular“
  
• Jorge Enrique García Farieta (U. Nacional de Colombia, COL): “Constraints on alternative cosmological models from clustering and redshift-space distortions“
• Leonardo Giani (UFES, Vitória, BRA): “Accelerated expansion as manifestation of gravity: when Dark Energy belongs to the left“