IMechE Railway Division Best Young Researcher Prize

Introduction

The Best Young Researcher Prize will be awarded to a young researcher whose work, in the opinion of the judges, has the greatest capability to 'make a difference' in one of the following areas:

• Establishing beneficial enhancement to railway science
• Demonstration of a value-adding new engineering concept
• Development of an advanced value-adding software technique applicable to railway engineering

Entrants must:

• Be a member of, or progressing towards membership of, a professional engineering institution with fewer than 10 years as a chartered engineer
• Work primarily in the UK
  
  Note: it is not necessary that the researcher nominated for the prize is a UK citizen, but there must be some clear UK connectioni.e. the work or some substantial part of it should have been directed and undertaken in the UK.

How to enter

Entrants should complete the application form, with the total limited to no more than two pages supported if necessary by one relevant published paper. These applications will be used to short list potential winners by judges who will have extensive railway experience relevant to research. Technical principals, showing why the work has the potential  to make a significant difference, should be provided but extensive technical detail is not advised.

Application Form

An example of a completed form is attached to provide an indication of the level of detail expected.

Example

Application can be on behalf of another provided it is with their agreement, and must be supported by a Professor or Senior Manager. This should be in the form of a letter supporting the application with a brief explanation of how the work either has or can make a difference, where appropriate supplemented by a reference to published work or specific activity.

The assessment criteria will be:

• The potential for development  to make a difference
• The quality and quantity of new thinking involved