Two quadrennial awards are offered by the FEI Company, one for the life sciences, the other for the physical/materials sciences and optics. The value of each prize is € 5,000. The winners of the award will be announced at the European Microscopy Congresses (EMC).

Candidates for the prize can be proposed by: a Microscopy Society in Europe, a group of scientists, or an individual scientist.

Candidates must be i) European, or ii) of European origin, or iii) non-European scientists who work or have worked in Europe for more than one year.

A candidate needs to be a member of a Microscopy Society in Europe.

Applications should contain seven identical hard copies of: i) a resum? (CV), ii) a list of publications, iii) reprints of five publications that best support the candidature; the candidate should be the leading author of these publications, iv) an appraisal and justification written by the proposer.

Proposals should be received by normal mail at the address of the Secretary of the European Microscopy Society (EMS), before April 1st of the year of the EMC. Email applications will be disregarded. For the exact address see the section Executive on this website.

Candidates will be evaluated by a jury of six members, selected by the Executive Board of EMS. The Executive Board of EMS is responsible for the scientific competence of the jury and the jury is responsible for a balanced evaluation of the applications, based on their scientific quality. The physical/optics/materials sciences and the life sciences will be represented in equal numbers in the jury. The President of EMS is the non-voting chairman of the jury. It is left to the discretion of the chairman of the jury to balance and process the evaluations of the individual jury members in the light of their different fields of expertise. The names of the members of the jury will be made public at the EMC.

The prize will be awarded on the basis of the quality and originality of scientific achievements in any field of microscopy, obtained during the five years preceding the application. All modes of microscopy are included. The successfull candidates and all proposers will be informed about the decision of the jury by June 1st of the same year.

Each successful candidate is required to register as a participant of the EMC and to deliver a keynote lecture during a plenary session. The full texts of these presentations will be printed in the EMS Yearbook.

An additional objective, but not a condition, of the FEI-EMA is to support scientists at a stage of their career at which the award will have a maximal impact on their future carreer. Proposers should indicate in their written appraisal and justification the extent to which the award would help to support the professional opportunities of the applicant. The quality of the scientific work remains the principal criterion for the award.

Microscopy Societies in Europe are requested to make every effort to inform their membership about the prize