Springer invites DESY, and the PhD supervisors on our staff staff, to join a new initiative to support and communicate outstanding scientific research at PhD level. The book and eBook programme ‘Springer Theses’ will publish and award prizes to a selection of exceptional PhD theses in the Physical Sciences. A strictly limited number of theses will be accepted, based on the recommendations of supervisors from the world’s top universities and research institutes who recognise the quality of the work, its ingenuity and its significance to the relevant research community.

The author of each thesis accepted into the series will receive a prize of €500. Theses will be published both in print and in Springer’s prominent eBook programme, thus becoming accessible to millions of readers worldwide through SpringerLink. The prestige and visibility associated with the prize-winning publication will help to further the career of deserving students.

Participation requires to propose outstanding theses to Springer. After evaluating these suggestions internally, the department may nominate one (or in exceptional cases two) theses per year for a prize and for publication in “Springer Theses”.

‘Springer Theses’ is restricted to truly outstanding original work that makes a substantial contribution to research in its field. For a thesis to qualify for publication, it must fulfil all of the following criteria:

It must be written in good English The topic of the thesis should fall within the confines of Chemistry, Physics and related fields such as Materials, Nanoscience, Chemical Engineering, Complex Systems and Biophysics. The work reported in the thesis must represent a significant scientific advance. If the thesis includes previously published material, permission to reproduce this must be gained from the respective copyright holder. It must have been examined and passed during the twelve months prior to nomination. Each thesis should include a foreword by the supervisor outlining the significance of its content. The thesis should have a clearly defined structure including an introduction accessible to scientists not expert in that particular field.

This initiative strives to promote today’s best young researchers therefore Springer does not insist on holding exclusive copyright and remains flexible in the licensing of publishing rights.

Propositions are handled by the "Association of the Friends and Sponsors of DESY", who will nominate (at most two) unawarded thesis out of the applicants for the DESY thesis price to the DESY directorate. The directorate will decide on a nomination to Springer.

After the nomination, the application form should be completed by the supervisor and author of the selected thesis and returned by e-mail by the Chairman of the Association of the Friends and Sponsors of DESY to Dr. Angela Lahee, together with a pdf version of the thesis itself. After checking the submission, Springer will confirm its acceptance for publication and request the author’s formal consent to publish. Thereafter, the supervisor and student should prepare the foreword and revised introduction (if necessary) required for the published version. Note that, in some cases, in particular if the the layout requires modification, the student will receive pdf proofs for approval. The co-ordination of these further steps will be undertaken in direct collaboration with the student and supervisor. The prize will be awarded upon release of the publication.

Application Form (64KB)

Springer Thesis application form