Regulations Willem R. van Zwet Award - VVSOR - VVSOR
Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research | Dutch
Below one can find the regulations for the Willem R. van Zwet Award
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.
The (co-)promotor(s) 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. Thesis topic(s) should be closely related to statistics and/or operations research. The nomination is accompanied by a motivation.
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 to 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.
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 board of the VVSOR appoints at least five members of the jury. Jury members should have substantial experience supervising PhD candidates. The board strives for representation of all sections of VVSOR in the jury. The jury is assisted by a secretary appointed by the board of the VVSOR, who is not a member of the jury.
The jury meets once a year before the VVSOR Annual Meeting to decide on 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. Jury members are not allowed the nominate theses. A jury member that wants to nominate a thesis should resign from the jury for that year, and the VVSOR board will nominate a (temporary) replacement. A decision is made by consensus, or, if consensus is not reached, by voting. If necessary, the jury may consult external experts.