ESP Best Ph.D. Thesis Award (Acronym ESP2hD Award)

In recognition of outstanding doctoral research and to further promote excellence in Photobiology, the European Society for Photobiology (ESP) offers a Best PhD Award (ESP2hD). This award honors a recent PhD graduate who has conducted original and innovative research of exceptional quality in a field related to Photobiology.

The award will be presented at the biannual Congress of the European Society for Photobiology. The awardee will be invited to present her/his work during the ESP Congress.

Current and previous awardees were:

Eligible candidates should have defended their PhD thesis in the period from June 1st, 2023 to March, 15th 2025* and must be ESP Members in good standing.

The application must be accompanied by:

  • A copy of a document (preferably in English) accrediting the date of defense;
  • An electronic copy (PDF or electronic link) of the thesis;
  • A CV and list of publications and patents derived from the thesis;
  • A summary of the thesis (three pages maximum) highlighting the contribution of the candidate to the area of Photobiology, referencing the corresponding articles or chapters. This description must clearly indicate one of the following areas (see below) as main area of investigation (a secondary area may also be chosen, if justified).

    Photodynamic Therapy Photomedicine and Human Photobiology Plant Photobiology Enviromental Photobiology Sensory Photobiology Physical and Chemical Photobiology Industrial Photobiology

    • Applications should be sent by e-mail to @email before the deadline at the latest and mentioning “ESP2hD Award” as subject.

    Applications will be examined by a committee appointed by the ETC and approved with an indisputable decision by the Executive Committee. In no case may the person who has directed, co-directed or supervised the doctoral thesis of any of the applications or is a co-author of any of the publications derived from said doctoral thesis be part of the evaluation committee. Persons with financial interest or scientific collaboration, including publications, with applicants during the last 5 years cannot be part of the committee.

    The evaluation of the thesis will consider the following aspects:

    • The relevance of the topic of the doctoral thesis in the development and progress of photobiology;
    • the quality and number of publications in scientific journals and patents;
    • participation in national and international conferences,
    • scientific dissemination activities;
    • other aspects to be considered by the evaluation committee (attendance to the Photobiology School, and ESP Supplement to the PhD Degree among others).

      • * Career breaks (caring responsibilities or personal circumstances e.g. a period of parental/adoption leave, family commitments, illness, or other exceptional circumstances) will be taken into consideration.

      Call Opening: Feb, 15th.