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Recognizing Achievement in Communications Technology
IEEE ComSoc sponsors more than 20 awards, including monetary prizes, certificates, and plaques. We honor the successes of our members and individuals in communications technology who make substantial contributions to the advancement of the industry.
Career Awards
Recognizing distinguished and significant contributions to education, major industry advances, and major contributions to public welfare.
IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Industry Leader Award - Deadline 15 February
To recognize an industry executive whose leadership has resulted in major and outstanding advances and new directions in the information and communications business area. The candidate is not required to be an IEEE member. A plaque, a certificate, and an honorarium of $2000 are awarded.
Paper Awards
ComSoc's major prize paper awards honor the achievements of authors whose articles appear in ComSoc publications. The Society’s major prize paper awards recognize writers of outstanding/original papers published in IEEE ComSoc journals and magazines. These papers essentially enlarge the field of communications engineering; for example, they may open new lines of research, envision bold approaches to communication, or formulate new problems to solve. Paper award recipients discover, extend, or complement technological advancements in education, industry, research, and service.
Please take this opportunity to nominate your colleagues whom you feel have written outstanding articles.
Nominations are due 15 February
The following eligibility requirements apply to all Paper Award nominations:
Awards Committee chair is NOT eligible for any ComSoc awards during his/her tenure as the committee chair. In the event that the Chair is inadvertently nominated for an award, the nomination shall be considered void and be withdrawn from consideration before the commencement of any award selection process by the committee.
Awards Committee members are not eligible for any ComSoc awards during their service term. In the event that a committee member is nominated for an award, he/she should either resign from the committee or ask that the paper nomination be withdrawn (in agreement with all co-nominees) before the commencement of any award selection process by the committee.
Awards Chair and Committee Members shall neither nominate nor endorse any ComSoc awards.
ComSoc President is not eligible for any ComSoc awards during his/her tenure as the President.
Vice President for Publications, Director of Journals, and Director of Magazines are not eligible for ComSoc paper awards during their service term.
ComSoc BoG members shall not nominate any ComSoc paper awards.
An EiC is NOT eligible for the ComSoc paper award and award nomination for the journal/magazine he/she is serving as the EiC.
Any individual can have a maximum of one ComSoc paper award within three consecutive calendar years, starting from 1 January 2025.
The IEEE Communications Society Best Survey Paper Award
Award honors the author(s) of an especially meritorious paper published in a ComSoc-owned journal dealing with a subject related to the Society’s technical scope. A plaque and honorarium of US$500 per author (up to a maximum total of US$1000). If there are more than four authors, the maximum of US$1000 will be split between all authors.
The IEEE Communications Society Best Tutorial Paper Award
Given to an outstanding tutorial paper published in any Communications Society magazine or journal in the previous five calendar years, the author need not be an IEEE member. A plaque and an honorarium up to US$500 for each author (award total not to exceed US$1000).
The IEEE Communications Society Charles Kao Award for Best Optical Communications & Networking Paper
This award will be given to papers published in the OSA/IEEE Journal on Optical Communications & Networking (JOCN) that open new lines of research, envision bold approaches to optical communication and networking, formulate new problems to solve, and essentially enlarge the field of optical communications and networking. Papers published in the prior three calendar years of JOCN are eligible for the award. The author need not be an IEEE member. A plaque and an honorarium of US$500 per author (up to a maximum total of US$2000). If there are more than four authors, the maximum of US$2000 will be split between all authors.
The IEEE Communications Society Fred W. Ellersick Prize
Publication of an original paper in any Communications Society magazine in the previous three calendar years; the author need not be an IEEE member. A plaque and an honorarium up to US$500 for each author (total awards not to exceed US$1000).
The IEEE Communications Society Heinrich Hertz Award for Best Communications Letter
This award is given to an outstanding manuscript published in any letter journal financially sponsored or co-sponsored by the Communications Society during the previous three calendar years that opens new lines of research, envisions bold approaches to communication, formulates new problems to solve, and essentially enlarges the field of communications engineering. Recipients need not be IEEE members. A plaque and an honorarium of US$500 per author (up to a maximum total of US$2000).
The IEEE Communications Society Leonard G. Abraham Prize
Publication of an original paper published in the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications in the previous three calendar years; author need not be an IEEE member. A plaque and an honorarium up to US$500 for each author (total award not to exceed US$1000).
The IEEE Communications Society Outstanding Paper Award
To honor the author(s) of an outstanding technical paper in the areas of interest and scope of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc).
The IEEE Communications Society Stephen O. Rice Prize
Publication of an original paper published in IEEE Transactions on Communications in the previous three calendar years; the author need not be an IEEE member. A plaque and an honorarium up to US$500 for each author (total award not to exceed US$1000).
The IEEE Communications Society William R. Bennett Prize
Publication of an original paper published in IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking or IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management in the previous three calendar years; the author need not be an IEEE member. A plaque and an honorarium up to US$500 for each author (total award not to exceed US$1000).
The IEEE Communications Society Katherine Johnson Young Author Best Paper Award
Author(s) of an original paper in a subject related to the Society’s technical scope and appearing in one of the Society’s solely owned or jointly owned transactions or journals in the previous three calendar years and who, upon the date of submission of the paper, is (are) less than 30 years of age. There are no restrictions as to IEEE membership, nationality, race, creed, age, or gender. The prize is only presented to young author(s) who are under 30 years of age and have made a substantial contribution to the paper. A plaque and an honorarium of US$1000. In the event that there are more than one young author, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all young authors, and each shall receive a plaque.
The IEEE Communications Society Award for Advances in Communication
Papers that open new lines of work, envision bold approaches to communication, formulate new problems to solve, and essentially enlarge the field of communications engineering. Given to an outstanding paper published in any IEEE Communications Society publication in the previous 15 calendar years; the author need not be an IEEE member. A plaque and an honorarium of US$500 per author (up to a maximum total of US$2000).
The IEEE Communications Society & Information Theory Society Joint Paper Award
For outstanding papers published in any publication of the Communications Society or the Information Theory Society within the previous three calendar years. The authors do not have to be members of IEEE. Presented annually. A plaque and an honorarium up to US$500 for each author (total will not exceed US$1000 for each paper).
IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award in Wireless Communications
Author of an original paper in the field of Wireless Communications, published in the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications in the previous three calendar years, are eligible for the Award. There are no restrictions as to IEEE membership, nationality, race, creed, age or gender. A plaque, an honorarium of up to US$1000, and travel reimbursement of up to US$3000.
For information on how the awards are administered, review the Awards section in the IEEE ComSoc Policies & Procedures.
See detailed IEEE Communications Society Awards descriptions and nomination instructions.
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