The Willem R. van Zwet Award, installed in 2012, is bestowed each year to an outstanding doctoral dissertation in the fields of Statistics and/or Operations Research.

Nomination

The promotor(es) nominate a researcher that successfully defended his or her Ph.D. at a Dutch university in the academic year (September 1 to September 1) prior to the award ceremony. Nomination is allowed only once. Thesis topic(s) should be closely related to statistics and/or operations research.

Prize

The annual prize is awarded to the candidate who in the opinion of the jury has written the best Ph.D. thesis. If desired, the jury is allowed to award the prize up to two candidates. If no thesis of sufficient quality has been nominated, the jury may decide not to award the prize. The prize is €1000,- per winner. Besides awarding a prize, the jury has the option of honorable mention. All winners and honorable mentioned nominees receive a diploma that is awarded at the annual meeting of the VVSOR.

Criteria

The thesis is evaluated on the following points (among others):

– originality and creativity;

– practical applicability and/or fundamental theoretical importance of the main scientific results reported in the thesis;

– readability.

The jury

The jury consists of five persons, including a member of the board of the VVSOR. The board of the VVSOR appoints the members of the jury, which preferably consists of professors only. The jury is assisted by a secretary appointed by the board of the VVSOR. If necessary, the jury may consult external experts. At the jury meeting at the beginning of the year a decision will be made on the prizes and/or honorable mentions. Jurors who are unable to attend this meeting should submit a written evaluation to the secretary of the jury, or should be represented by a substitute.