European XFEL Young Scientist Award – call for nominations

In the framework of the upcoming Users’ Meeting, European XFEL is inviting nominations for the European XFEL Young Scientist Award, which aims at recognizing outstanding contributions of young researchers in the early stages of their careers to research at European XFEL.

Candidates should have demonstrated scientific leadership through major contributions to beamtimes, improvements to the facility, data analysis and/or interpretation by means of theory or modelling. While these qualifications generally result in peer-reviewed publications, we would like to encourage the sharing of exciting new results and will also consider candidates whose results are so far unpublished.

Deadline for nominations:

Wednesday 03 December 2025 – 23:59 (Hamburg/Schenefeld local time – CET)

Selection

Nominations will be reviewed by the User Organization Executive Committee (UOEC), who will select the winner.

Prizes

The winner will receive a monetary award (2000 EUR) and will be invited to give a talk at the upcoming European XFEL Users’ Meeting on 27 January 2026 in Hamburg.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible, candidates must have completed their PhD less than 6 years before the nomination deadline, and must not yet be appointed to a tenured professorship position. The principle of equal opportunity regarding disabilities, diversity, gender equity will be applied in the selection process. Nominations striving to showcase the work of female researchers and nominees with disabilities are encouraged.

For details, please refer to the Young Scientist Award web page, including information on terms and privacy and the link to the nomination web form.

For technical questions please contact useroffice@xfel.eu. For questions regarding the award selection process, please contact the User Organization Executive Committee (user.organization@xfel.eu) or any of the UOEC members.