The Bureau of ALERT Geomaterials is pleased to announce the opening of applications for the Ioannis Vardoulakis PhD Prize 2026. Since 2016, this prestigious prize has been awarded in honor of Prof. Ioannis Vardoulakis, recognizing outstanding contributions to research and teaching in the field of Geomechanics.

Eligibility: The prize is open to PhD students who have successfully defended their thesis in 2025 and had at least one official supervisor from an institution belonging to the ALERT Geomaterials Association.

Application Deadline: The deadline for applications is 31st March 2026.

Prize Details:

• The winner will receive a 1,000€ prize.
• Each of the other finalists will be awarded 500€.
• The winner will be invited to give a short lecture on their research during the ALERT Geomaterials Workshop.
• Two Finalists will have the opportunity to give a pitch presentation of their work.

Application Process: Candidates must submit their application via email to the Vice-Director for Academics, Prof. Eleni Gerolymatou, at vice-director.academics@alertgeomaterials.eu and cc the Director, Prof. Ioannis Stefanou at director@alertgeomaterials.eu, respectively, following the prescribed format.

The application should include:

• Curriculum Vitae (in English)
• Thesis abstract (max. 5 pages, in English)
• Two most representative papers derived from the thesis (in English)
• Full thesis text (in the original language) including:
  • Table of Contents (in English)
  • Table of Figures (in English)

Important Notes:

• All documents must be compiled into a single PDF file following the specified order.
• Files exceeding 3Mb should be sent using a link.
• Incomplete or incorrectly formatted applications will be automatically excluded.

For full details on the rules, please visit the ALERT Geomaterials website: https://alertgeomaterials.eu/alert-phd-prize/.

We look forward to receiving your applications!