Call for Nominations: 20th ERCOFTAC da Vinci Competition!

Deadline for submission of nominations - 15th July 2025

The ERCOFTAC da Vinci Prize for young researchers is awarded annually in recognition of an excellent PhD thesis in fundamental or applied fluid dynamics and outstanding scientific contributions with engineering relevance. The winner of the 20th da Vinci Competition will be chosen from five finalists during the ERCOFTAC Autumn Festival on 9th October 2025 in Darmstadt, Germany.

Key Dates

• 15th July 2025 - Deadline for submission of nominations: PC coordinators send the selected 3 research summaries (PDF) to the SPC Chairman: maria.vittoria.salvetti@unipi.it
• 5th September 2025 - Participants will be informed about the jury vote and finalists will be given instructions on their presentations and travel arrangements.
• 9th October 2025 - Finals of the 20th da Vinci Competition in Darmstadt.

Eligibility

Candidates may be PhD students or recent PhD graduates from a university associated with an ERCOFTAC Pilot Centre (www.ercoftac.org/pilot_centres) who have graduated after 1 June 2024.

Prizes

The winner will be awarded the da Vinci Medal, a certificate, and a cash prize of 1000 Euro. The other four finalists will receive certificates and medals. Selected finalists will be invited to publish a review article on their work in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion (SpringerNature).

Selection

Each ERCOFTAC Pilot Centre (PC) may nominate up to 3 candidates for the da Vinci Competition. The selected candidates should submit, as sole author, a 3-page summary of their research achievements. These research summaries will be evaluated by international experts selected by the Scientific Program Committee (SPC). This panel will decide on a shortlist of 5 finalists that will present their work at the Autumn Festival in Liège, where the final winner will be chosen.

Candidates are urged prepare their summaries carefully, as these are the principal means by which their work is assessed by the selection panel. The 3-page summary must be prepared by the candidate independently as sole author and should include:

• Title of the work
• Name, affiliation, email address and telephone number of the candidate
• Name and affiliation of supervisor(s)
• Brief summary of the work, explaining the main objectives and main results in a language that is understandable to the general public (less than ½ page)
• Scientific summary of objectives, research methodology, main results, and achievements. The inclusion of relevant graphs and visualisations is encouraged. Emphasis should be given to novelty and originality of the methods and findings, and relevance to engineering practice.
• List of up to 5 selected publications and an indication of the total research output volume.

Financial Support

Travel and subsistence expenses incurred by the finalists will be reimbursed by ERCOFTAC. Prior to participation, the finalists are expected to present travel plans to the SPC Chairman for approval.