[PIO] Announcement of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment for the announcement of the 1st Pancyprian Environmental Awards

Supporting Research in the context of World Environment Day

The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, on the occasion of World Environment Day, which is celebrated every year on 5 June, as well as the National Year of Youth, announces the announcement of the 1st Pancyprian Environmental Research Awards Competition for young people up to 35 years of age.

The aim of the awards is to recognise the substantial contribution of academic education, research and innovation to environmental protection and cultural change, bringing academic knowledge closer to basic and applied research.

In this context, the Ministry has decided to reward holders of master's and doctoral level postgraduate degrees, who received the degree after 31 December 2021, and whose performance in subjects related to the environment has been outstanding. The awards are open to young people who have graduated from public and private secondary general education schools in the Republic of Cyprus.

Details of the beneficiaries and conditions of the competition are given below:

1. Category Master's degree holders

Those who hold a Master's degree (Master of Science) in the field of Environment, who have obtained their Master's degree and meet the following criteria are eligible to participate:

1. A Master's degree from a recognized academic institution by the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Body for Higher Education (DIPAE).
2. The postgraduate degree must be in the field of environment such as Environmental Management and Protection, Environmental Engineering, Energy Systems, Sustainable Design, Biodiversity and Ecology, Sustainable Development or equivalent.
3. The candidate must have obtained the degree after 31 December 2021 and must not have exceeded 35 years of age on the date of submission of all supporting documents, which is 5 July 2024.
4. The postgraduate programme of study must accumulate at least 90 ECTS credits.
5. The candidate must have obtained a thesis grade of at least 9 with a perfect score of 10.
6. The candidate must have obtained an average grade of at least 8.5 with a perfect score of 10.

Each candidate is invited to send his/her application by 5 July 2024 at 23:59 to the e-mail address registry@moa.gov.cy, indicating in the subject line "1st Cyprus Environmental Research Awards Competition". The application should include the following. A letter of expression of interest

including all his/her personal details, i.e. name, surname, address, email, telephone number and stating his/her interest to participate in the competition.

II. Detailed marks demonstrating the grade of his/her thesis and the average grade of his/her degree.

III. Copy of the Master's degree.

IV. An essay (up to 1,500 words) describing the main results of his/her postgraduate thesis

V. List of publications from the results of his/her postgraduate thesis in an international peer-reviewed journal and/or conference (attach the relevant articles in PDF format).

VI. List of publications from 1 January 2022 to date.

VII. High school diploma.

The weighting of the evaluation criteria is as follows. For journal publications, the impact factor of the journal, the scimago quartile category (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) and the H-index of the journal will be taken into account. For publications in conferences, it will be evaluated whether the conference is national, international or global, and whether a poster presentation or oral presentation was made.

- 40% the report (short abstract up to 1,500 words) describing the results and innovation of the thesis.

- 15% the list of publications from January 1, 2022 to date in peer-reviewed journals/conferences. For journal publications, the impact factor of the journals, the scimago quartile category (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) and the H-index of the journal will be taken into account. For conference publications, it will be assessed whether the conference is national, international or global, and whether a poster presentation or an oral presentation was made.

2. Category PhD holders

Eligible to participate are holders of a Doctoral Degree (Doctoral of Philosophy) in the field of the Environment who meet the following criteria:

1. Their PhD thesis must be in the field of environment such as Environmental Management and Protection, Environmental Engineering, Energy Systems, Sustainable Design, Sustainable Development, Biodiversity and Ecology or equivalent.
2. Have obtained the PhD degree after 31 December 2021.
3. Have obtained a doctoral thesis grade of excellent (or grade 9 with 10 being excellent).

Each candidate is invited to send his/her application by 5 July 2024 at 23:59 to the e-mail address registry@moa.gov.cy, indicating in the subject line "1st Cyprus Environmental Research Awards Competition". The application should include the following:

I. A letter of expression of interest including all his/her personal details, i.e. name, surname, address, email, telephone number and stating his/her interest to participate in the competition.

II. Confirmation from his/her supervisor that he/she has received a final grade of excellent in his/her dissertation, if there is no detailed mark to prove it.

III. Copy of a copy of his/her Doctoral Degree or confirmation from his/her supervisor that he/she has successfully defended his/her thesis.

IV. Participation is also open to those who have completed their research and have pending public support of their thesis. In this case, a confirmation from the Supervising Professor that the research has been completed and that the public support will take place before 31 October 2024 is required.

V. A 2,000-3,000-word report describing the novelty and key research questions, as well as the main results of the thesis. The report should include at least: the title of the topic, abstract, research questions, analysis of the current situation, dissertation methodology, results and conclusions (up to 10 bibliographic references are allowed).

VI. List of publications of the results of the doctoral thesis in international peer-reviewed journals and/or conferences (attach the relevant articles) or in edited volumes of books

VII. List of publications in general (last 10 years)

VIII. Supporting documents Recognition demonstrating international recognition of the work.

X. High school diploma.

The weighting of the evaluation criteria is as follows. The journal's impact factor, scimago quartile category (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) and the journal's H-index will be taken into account). For conferences, it will be evaluated whether the conference is national, international or global and whether a poster presentation or oral presentation was made.

- 20% the list of publications submitted by the applicant in peer-reviewed journals and/or conferences from the date of first registration as a PhD candidate to date. The impact factor of the journals, the scimago quartile category (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) and the H-index of the journal will be taken into account. For conferences, it will be evaluated whether the conference is national, international or global and whether a poster presentation or oral presentation was given.

- 5% other distinctions received since the date of obtaining the doctoral degree to date, which include international recognition of his/her scientific work. Examples include being invited as a keynote speaker at a university outside the institution where the thesis was written, being invited as a keynote speaker at an international conference, being a member of the scientific committee of an international conference, etc.

- 5% the candidate's H-index, taking into account the Google Scholar database.

- 5% the number of citations, according to the Google Scholar database.

If candidates meet the criteria for both categories, they should choose only one category for their application. If they apply for more than one category, they will be automatically disqualified from the competition.

Please note that in case of a tie for a particular position, the prize money will be divided equally between the tied candidates.

Prizes for holders of a Master's degree

1. 1st place: €3,000
2. 2nd place: €2,000
3. 3rd place: €1.000
4. 4th place: €750
5. 5th place: €500

Awards for Doctoral Degree holders

1. 1st place: €6.000
2. 2nd place: €3.000
3. 3rd place: €2.000
4. 4th place: €1,000

The awards will be presented in November 2024, at a date and time to be determined and announced later.

(Ephys/NYAN/AF)
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