For 2015, awards will be given in the areas of Energy, Water and Biodiversity. Please click here to see some keywords for each areas.

Eligibility and Application Process

The award is open to those engaged in graduate education and research activities that emphasize sustainable development in any of the above three areas. Candidates are expected to be employed at institutions of higher education in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding USA and Canada), and should have completed their PhD degree between 1 May 2010 and 1 May 2015.

Candidates may be put forth by nomination or direct application. Please observe that researchers working at, or affiliated with UNU-IAS are not eligible to apply.

Click here for Online Application and Nomination

Evaluation Process

All qualified applications will be evaluated by an international panel of three recognized experts in Sustainable Development in each of the three areas.

Evaluation Criteria

• Number of citations and h-index
• Number and quality of publications
• Documented External Impact

Deadlines

Nominations and applications will close at midnight GMT on 24th May 2015. Late submissions and incomplete applications will not be accepted.

As part of the judging process, the top three finalists in each category will be sponsored to present their work in a public symposium that is to be held on 27th July 2015 in Japan. Winners will be announced at an award ceremony after the symposium on the same day.

Please note that only finalists will be contacted to participate in the symposium. The YSA Secretariat will post the results on the website.

Cash Prize and Fellowship in Germany

Winners will receive a cash award of USD$1000 from ProSPER.Net-Scopus. A fellowship will also be offered by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. See more information below. These prestigious fellowships provide travel, supplies and living expenses for the winners to spend between six and eighteen months collaborating with any research group of the recipient’s choosing in Germany. Names and affiliations of winners will be widely publicized.