ICFA is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the 2026 ICFA Instrumentation Awards. These awards are bestowed annually to recognise exceptional contributions to instrumentation that have advanced the field of particle physics. Nominations are due by 23:59 GMT on 13 October 2025.
ICFA, the International Committee for Future Accelerators—a Working Group of the C11 Commission of IUPAP (International Union of Pure and Applied Physics)—was established in 1976 to facilitate international collaboration in the construction and use of accelerators for high-energy physics.
The ICFA Instrumentation Early Career Award recognises significant achievements in instrumentation by individuals, or groups of up to three, at an early stage in their careers. The work must demonstrate clear promise or have already contributed meaningfully to advances in particle physics. An early career is defined as within 15 years of receiving a PhD or equivalent terminal degree, with appropriate adjustments for career interruptions.
The PhD date refers to the date on which the degree was officially awarded, not the date of the thesis defence. The time elapsed since the PhD was awarded is calculated based on the year in which the call for nominations is made. Accordingly, as the call for nominations for the ICFA Instrumentation Early Career Award is being issued in 2025, nominees are eligible if their PhD was awarded in 2010 or later.
The ICFA Instrumentation Award recognises achievements in instrumentation by an individual, or a group of up to three individuals, who have made significant advances in the field of particle physics.
The award may recognise a specific technological development—for example, the 2025 award honoured the development of dual-phase and high-pressure gas xenon Time Projection Chambers (TPCs), the 2024 award recognised the MAPS (Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors), and the 2023 award the development of Micro Pattern Gas Detectors. The 2022 award acknowledged the development of advanced low-noise electronics instrumentation, particularly for liquid-argon technology.
Alternatively, the award may recognise a broader contribution that combines a technological innovation with one or more of the following: community organisation, training, outreach, or technology transfer. While the award is primarily based on past achievements, the potential for future contributions to instrumentation development may also be taken into account.
The particle physics community is diverse and global, and nominations should reflect this. Nominations of women and members of other underrepresented groups within the particle physics community are therefore strongly encouraged.
Award ceremony
The recipients of the 2025 Award will be invited to deliver a lecture at the Technology and Instrumentation in Particle Physics (TIPP) conference, to be held from 2–6 February 2026 at TIFR in Mumbai, India.
For the subsequent edition of the award, the lectures will take place at the 17th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detectors in 2027.
Nominations
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A nomination letter, no longer than 10,000 characters (approximately 3-4 pages), submitted on headed paper.
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A biographical sketch or CV for each individual included in the nomination (maximum of 3 pages per person).
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A list of up to 10 key outputs relevant to the nomination, each accompanied by a brief statement outlining its relevance, impact, and the nominee’s contribution. Outputs typically include publications, but may also consist of reports, patents, or similar work.
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Two to three supporting letters, each no longer than 5,000 characters (approximately 2 pages), written on headed paper by individuals other than the nominator.
Review and selection process
The selection committee for the 2026 awards is linked from the sidebar.
While nominations will remain active for three years, i.e., nominations from 2024 and 2025 are still being considered, it is recommended that the nominations are updated, which requires a complete resubmission on the Indico system for this award year.
Contact
For questions regarding the award and nominations, please contact Stefan Söldner-Rembold (s.soldner-rembold@imperial.ac.uk or stefan.soldner-rembold@cern.ch), Chair of the ICFA Instrumentation and Innovation Panel.
