Call for Nominations for the IJCAI-15 Awards
Nominations are invited for the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award, the IJCAI John McCarthy Award, and the IJCAI Award for Research Excellence, which will be presented at IJCAI-15 in Buenos Aires, Argentina in July 2015. See https://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: The IJCAI Computers and Thought Award is intended to recognize early career researchers and nominees cannot be older than 35 at the start of the IJCAI conference (and so must be born on or after July 28, 1979 for IJCAI-15). The IJCAI John McCarthy Award is intended to recognize established mid-career researchers, typically between fifteen to twenty-five years after obtaining their PhD, that have built up a major track record of research excellence in artificial intelligence. Nominees of the award will have made significant contributions to the research agenda in their area and will have a first-rate profile of influential research results. The IJCAI Award for Research Excellence is intended to recognize researchers who have demonstrated excellence throughout an entire career. There are no restrictions on who can be nominated for this award.
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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by November 25, 2014 for IJCAI RE Award and by December 31, 2014 for IJCAI C&T and McCarthy Awards. Nominations submitted previously for the Research Excellence award in 2011 and 2013 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, but can be resubmitted.
IJCAI Computers and Thought Award
Nomination form: https://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-15_CT_Nomination.txt
Reference form: https://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-15_CT_Reference.txt
IJCAI John McCarthy Award
Nomination form: https://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-15_JM_Nomination.txt
Reference form: https://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-15_JM_Reference.txt
IJCAI Award for Research Excellence
Nomination form: https://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-15_RE_Nomination.txt
Reference form: https://www.ijcai.org/awards/IJCAI-15_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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as soon as possible, 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-15 Awards
Names of nominee due [email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.] as soon as possible
November 25, 2014: Nomination and reference forms for RE Award due [all forms emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.]
December 31, 2014: Nomination and reference forms for C&T and McCarthy Awards due [all forms emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.]
July 28, 2015: IJCAI-15 Computers and Thought Award Presentation
July 30, 2015: IJCAI-15 John McCarthy Award Presentation
Enquiries concerning nominations should be directed to the IJCAI Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
or by phone at +49-767-203-8221 or +43-6991-180-8202.
