Type of Prize

As a rule, the award is jointly conferred every two years to two researchers, one in Germany and one in Poland.

Purpose

The award is conferred for outstanding achievements in German-Polish research cooperation.

Number and Value of Awards

The prize money of € 200,000 is donated in equal shares by the DFG and the Foundation for Polish Science (Fundacja na rzecz Nauki Polskiej). The award is divided equally between the recipients and is awarded for a maximum of three years. Awardees may use the money for any academic purpose that is within the scope of the funding programmes of both organizations. Funds should be used to further intensify research cooperation. Use of prize funds by the German partner is subject to the DFG's usage guidelines. Use of prize funds by the Polish partner is subject to the applicable Polish regulations.

Nominations

The award is conferred on the basis of nominations or self-nominations. Researchers holding a PhD who work at universities and/or research institutions in Germany and Poland are eligible to nominate candidates. They will be made aware of the award by a public call for nominations.

Selection Criteria

The award will be conferred to individual researchers. Candidates will be evaluated according to the scientific excellence of joint achievements and the success of the cooperation. Researchers may only receive the Copernicus Award once.

Selection of Prize Winners

Awardees will be selected by a jury of eight researchers, four of whom are working in Germany and four in Poland. The jury elects a chair, who is eligible to vote, from among its members. The German members will be appointed by the DFG and the Polish representatives by the FNP for a four-year term of office. Members of the jury may be re-elected once. In order to cover all fields of science and the humanities represented by the candidates, up to two associate jury members may be appointed.

Nomination Deadlines

Deadlines will be announced in the public call for nominations.

Documents Required

Nominations should contain the following documents in English:

• Acknowledgement of the clearly defined, joint academic achievement of the two candidates
• Curricula vitae of each candidate
• A list of up to ten publications based on verifiable joint research in support of the achievement
• An additional independent letter of reference for each couple of researchers when the nomination is submitted by a third party, two independent letters of reference in case of self-nomination.

Additional information on submitting nominations is contained in the call.

• Prof. Dr. Ewa Dąbrowska, Department of English and American Studies, Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
• Prof. Dr. Immo Fritsche, Institute of Psychology, University of Leipzig
• Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Halemba, PAN Institute for Archeology and Ethnology, Warsaw
• Prof. Dr. Paweł M. Idziak, Department of Theoretical Computer Science, Jagiellonian University Cracow
• Prof. Dr. Dominika Nowis, Laboratory of Experimental Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw
• Prof. Dr. Marek Samoć, Institute of Advanced Materials, Wrocław University of Science and Technology
• Prof. Dr. Justyna Wolinska, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Ursula Wurstbauer, Institute of Physics, University of Münster