Early Career Investigator Award in Materials Modeling
Description
The International Society of Materials Modeling (ISMM) Early Career Investigator Award in Materials Modeling recognizes and honors a promising early-career researcher whose work has already made a significant impact in the field of materials modeling. The award highlights and encourages outstanding contributions from emerging leaders in the field, including innovative research, development of modeling methods and tools, interdisciplinary impact, mentorship, service, and contributions that strengthen the materials modeling community.
Eligibility
The award recognizes an individual who is at least four years, but no more than ten years, from the receipt of their doctoral degree in the year of nomination. Exceptions may be made for career interruptions associated with family responsibilities, caregiving, military service, medical leave, or other significant circumstances.
The nominee should be active in the field of materials modeling at the time of nomination. Current members of the ISMM Board of Directors are not eligible for nomination.
Prize
The recipient will receive an engraved plaque, a $1,500 award, economy-class travel to the International Conference on Multiscale Materials Modeling (MMM) at which the award is presented, accommodation during the conference, and complimentary conference registration.
The recipient must accept the award in person at the MMM Conference Banquet.
Nomination Procedures
Nominator Eligibility
The nominator must be a researcher who meets at least one of the following criteria:
- Has attended at least two of the previous five MMM conferences. This eligibility pathway will be retired at the end of 2028.
- Has been a member of ISMM for a minimum of four continuous years at the time of nomination.
Current members of the ISMM Board of Directors are not eligible to submit nominations or supporting letters.
Additional Details
Self-nominations are not accepted.
Nomination Package
The nomination package must include:
- A proposed citation of 25 words or fewer highlighting the major contributions of the nominee.
- A nomination letter from the nominator, no more than two pages in length, describing the nominee’s major contributions to materials modeling, including research achievements, development of modeling methods or tools, leadership, mentoring, service, community-building, and contributions to ISMM/MMM, as applicable.
- The nominee’s curriculum vitae, no more than five pages in length.
- A link to the nominee’s Google Scholar profile or equivalent publication list.
- Up to three additional supporting letters from individuals familiar with the nominee’s research contributions, professional achievements, leadership, mentoring, service, or broader community contributions. Each supporting letter should be no more than two pages.
- All documents should be submitted by the nominator as a single PDF file by email with the subject line “ISMM Early Career Award” to [insert awards email address].
Deadline
The nomination deadline is August 1, 2026.
Evaluation
The Executive Committee of ISMM will screen all nomination packages for eligibility and completeness. Eligible nominations will then be submitted to the ISMM Board of Directors for evaluation.
The ISMM Board of Directors will evaluate the eligible nominations and vote to select the award recipient. Any Board member with a conflict of interest related to a nomination must disclose the conflict and recuse themselves from discussion and voting on that nomination.
Past awardees
Recipient of the 2024 Early Career Investigator Award in Materials Modeling:
Corey Oses
Johns Hopkins University, Whiting School of Engineering, USA
Dr. Oses has made significant contributions to the field of materials modeling, particularly in the areas of first-principles stability analyses and the modeling of chemically disordered materials. His work has led to the discovery of new materials with exceptional properties, such as permanent magnets, superalloys, and high-entropy ceramics. Notably, Dr. Oses played a crucial role in the development of the AFLOW software, which has
become a vital tool in high-throughput materials design. His innovations have greatly influenced the high-entropy materials community and established new standards in materials informatics. Dr. Oses's research has been widely recognized and highly cited in the scientific community, with several of his publications being highlighted as "hot papers" and selected for editorial distinctions.
Recipient of the 2022 Early Career Investigator Award in Materials Modeling:
Yinan Cui
Tsinghua University, China
Yinan Cui is an associate professor at Tsinghua University. She received her PhD from TSinghua University in 2015, and then worked as a postdoc at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) until June 2019. Yinan is primarily engaged in the field of mechanics of materials under severe environments. Her research is focused on developing unique multiscale and multiphysics coupled simulation methods, and disclosing the microscopic physical origins of material deformation and failure. Her work aims to guide the design of more resilient materials used in future energy and power technologies. She has authored more than 50 SCI papers, two academic books, and is a member of the editorial board of Tungsten and the International Journal of Plasticity. She won the 2022 National Nature Science Foundation of China's Excellent Young Excellent Young Scientists Fund, the 2021 Emerging Leader of Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, and the 2016 Springer Outstanding PhD Thesis Award.