Organization of the "Dream Chemistry Award" Contest (the "Contest") in 2025 complies with the guidelines set forth in these Contest Terms and Conditions.
The aim of the Contest is to award a prize to a young scientist (the "Candidate") for proposing a scientific project (the "Project") in the field of chemistry or a chemistry-related interdisciplinary area, based on a scientific problem that the scientist dreams to solve. The prize is not intended to be used for the Project's implementation.
The Contest is organized by the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague), Flemingovo nám. 542/2, Praha 6, Czechia (the "Organizer"). The Organizer shall announce the date it starts accepting Contest entries, as well as the results of the Contest, by publishing the information on the Contest website.
The Contest is held under the auspices of an Honorary Committee appointed by the Organizer. The list of Committee members will be announced on the Contest website.
IOCB Prague will appoint a Scientific Committee to evaluate the Contest entries. The members of the Scientific Committee shall be experts in the field of chemistry and related disciplines, and shall come from the academic community. The Scientific Committee shall consist of no fewer than 10 members. The composition of the Committee shall be announced on the Contest website.
Eligible Candidates for the Contest may be citizens of any country, provided they meet the following criteria:
The Candidates are nominated by members of the academic community (the "Nominators").
The Nominators are respected experts in their fields. They must hold at least a Ph.D. degree and have a minimum of ten years’ experience since publishing their first scientific paper.
The Contest will be announced in March 2025.
Any Candidate's entry in the Contest must be preceded by a nomination of the Candidate by a Nominator, submitted electronically via the Contest website by June 30, 2025. The nomination must include the Candidate’s first and last names, e-mail address, current affiliation, basic information about the Candidate and their research interests, and a brief statement of why the Candidate should be considered for DCA. The Organizer of the Contest will notify each eligible Candidate by e-mail of their nomination.
Each Contest entry ("Application") must include the following documents:
All Applications must be submitted electronically via the Contest website no later than August 31, 2025.
Both the Project and the Candidate’s CV will be evaluated. The evaluation of the Projects and the ranking of the Candidates by the Scientific Committee will be completed by October 1, 2025.
Five top-ranked Candidates will become the Finalists of the Contest (the "Finalists"). The list of Finalists will be announced on the Contest website without delay.
Each Finalist of the Contest will be invited to present their Project in a 30-minute presentation to the Scientific Committee. The presentation should include a short popular introduction, intended for a general audience, and the remainder of the presentation will be dedicated to explaining the dream project thoroughly. Each presentation will be followed by a 15-minute discussion, during which back-up slides may be used. Presentations of the Finalists will be held at IOCB Prague on December 1, 2025.
The Scientific Committee will select the Contest Winner (the "Winner"). The decision of the Scientific Committee is final and incontestable.
The Winner will deliver a 45-minute talk on the results of their current research on December 2, 2025. The name of the Winner of the Contest will be announced on the Contest website.
The Winner of the Contest receives the "Dream Chemistry Award" (the "Prize"), which comprises of a statuette, a certificate, and a financial prize of €10,000.
Other Finalists selected by the Scientific Committee will receive a "Dream Chemistry Top 5" prize, consisting of a certificate, and a financial prize of €1,000 each.
