Award Policy
Purpose
The EETN Award for the Best PhD Dissertation in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is awarded to a dissertation that stands out for originality, scientific/technical quality, methodological rigor, and the potential for substantial and lasting impact in the field of AI and/or in society.
Eligibility
A nomination is eligible provided that the following are cumulatively met:
- The dissertation primarily concerns AI (indicatively: machine learning, knowledge representation, reasoning, natural language processing, computer vision, robotics, multi-agent systems, human–AI interaction, trustworthy AI). Interdisciplinary dissertations are accepted provided that AI constitutes an essential and central element.
- The dissertation has been successfully defended between January 1 and December 31 of the previous calendar year.
- The doctoral degree has been awarded by a university in Greece.
- The candidate and the supervisor submitting the nomination are active members of EETN at the time of submission.
Nomination Submission (Required)
The nomination file is submitted here and should include:
- Cover letter, with the dates of completion of the dissertation, the names of the supervisors, and the examination committee.
- Nomination letter from the supervisor (or the supervisors).
- The full text of the doctoral dissertation.
- List of publications derived from the dissertation.
Evaluation Criteria
The Evaluation Committee examines nominations based on the following:
- Originality (novelty, extent the work goes beyond incremental improvements).
- Quality (clarity of objectives/assumptions, correctness of methodology, adequacy of evaluation/experiments).
- Impact (potential to influence future research/practice, and/or real world domains, or societal impact).
- Ethical and responsible AI aspects (awareness of ethical & social dimensions, fairness, privacy, safety, responsible data use, limitations and potential risks).
Evaluation and Selection Process
- Eligibility and completeness check of the nomination file by the EETN Board of Directors (BoD).
- Independent evaluation of each eligible dissertation by the members of the Evaluation Committee, based on the above criteria.
- Preparation of a shortlist based on scores and documented evaluations.
- Final meeting and decision for the awarding of one (1) prize and, optionally, one honorable mention.
- Documentation and announcement of results: the Committee records the justification of the selection and informs the BoD of EETN, which communicates the results and publishes a brief description of the winning dissertation.
Conflict of Interest and Impartiality
- An Evaluation Committee member is considered to be in a conflict of interest when there is a relationship that may affect impartiality (indicatively: supervisor or co-supervisor, frequent co-authorship, same research group, personal relationship with the candidate and/or the supervisor(s)).
- In case of a conflict of interest, the member must immediately inform the BoD of EETN and withdraw from the process.
- The evaluation is conducted with sole regard to the overall scientific merit of the nominations, regardless of institution, geographic region, or personal characteristics.
- All communications and deliberations of the Committee are strictly confidential.