Prize Specifications

Principal Guideline

The SIAM Activity Group on Supercomputing (SIAG/SC) Best Paper Prize, established in 2015, is awarded to the authors of the most outstanding paper, as determined by the prize committee, in the field of parallel scientific and engineering computing and published within the four calendar years preceding the award year. Candidate papers must be published in English in a peer-reviewed journal bearing a publication date within the four calendar years prior to the year of the award and making significant contributions in parallel scientific and engineering computing. A paper must be nominated by at least two individuals, either in the form of two distinct nominations or one nomination package including letters of nomination from two different people .

Prize Committee

Formation

The SIAG/SC Prize Committee will select the winning paper. This committee will consist of a panel of at least five SIAG/SC members. The committee, including its chair, will be appointed by the SIAM Vice President at Large (SIAM VP) upon the recommendation of the SIAG/SC Chair. The SIAG Chair, in consultation with the other officers, will form a list of SIAG/SC members and will submit the list to the SIAM VP for approval prior to inviting the committee members to serve. The SIAG officers will seek to ensure a diverse composition of the prize committee in research area, gender, geography, employment sector (industry, national laboratories, university), and under-represented groups. The appointments will be made at least nine months in advance of the award date.

Tenure

The term of office will be from the date of appointment until the date of the award.

Rules of Operation

The SIAG/SC officers and the SIAM office will solicit nominations for the prize from the general membership of the SIAG/SC and from other members of the scientific community, using SIAM office resources as needed.

The prize committee will follow the ‘best practices’ set out in the SIAM document for Selection Committees. The prize committee will follow the SIAM rules for conflict of interest as posted on the SIAM web site.

If a paper by a committee member is nominated for the award, the SIAG officers will appoint a replacement upon notification by the committee chair and with the approval of the SIAM VP.

Selection Procedures

Eligibility

The award may be given to any paper that satisfies the following conditions.

• The paper must be published in the peer-reviewed journal in the four calendar years prior to the nomination deadline.
• At least one of the authors must be a SIAG/SC member at the time of nomination.
• The paper must be nominated by at least two individuals, either in the form of two distinct nominations or one nomination package including letters of nomination from two different people.

Recommendation of the Prize Committee

The Prize Committee will notify the SIAM VP of its selection at least six months prior to the award date. The recommendation must be accompanied by a written justification and a citation not exceeding 25 words that can be used for a certificate and read at award time.

The SIAM VP will accept or reject the committee's recommendation within one month of notification.

The Selection Committee has the authority to choose to abstain from giving the award if there is no acceptable individual. If the award is not given for this reason, a new selection committee will be selected for the next award cycle. [1]

Notification of Award

The Chair of the Prize Committee will notify the corresponding author for the recipient of the award at least four months in advance of the award date. An invitation will be extended to the author(s) to attend the award ceremony at the biennial SIAM Conference on Parallel Processing for Scientific Computing to receive the award. The award winner(s) will be invited by the conference organizers to give a plenary lecture on the winning paper.

Description of Award

Award Type

The award will consist of a plaque and a certificate containing the citation. As part of the award, a representative author will be invited to present a plenary lecture at the conference. Travel funds will be made available to reimburse the speaker for reasonable travel expenses incurred in attending the award ceremony and giving the lecture.

Award Date and Eligibility Period

The prize may be awarded every second year (starting in 2016) at the biennial SIAM Conference on Parallel Processing for Scientific Computing.

The eligibility period is the four calendar years preceding the year of the award.

The Prize Fund

Since there is no cash award and minimal expenses are associated with the prize, there will be no prize fund.

Award Presentation

The SIAG/SC Chair and the Chair of the Prize Committee will announce the award at the SIAM Conference on the Parallel Processing for Scientific Computing and present the award to the recipient(s). An announcement of the award will appear in SIAM News and the SIAG/SC website.

The first award of the prize will be made in 2016.

^[1] An award decision will also be postponed to the next cycle if the number of nominations does not meet the required number to forward to the selection committee. See SIAM Prize Policy for more information.