Call for Nominations of Paolo Farinella Prize 2020 now open
April 29, 2020

Call for Nominations of Paolo Farinella Prize 2020 now open

** DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 1 JUNE**

To honor the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, a prize has been established in recognition of significant contributions in one of the fields of interest of Paolo, which spanned from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularization, security in space, weapons control and disarmament.

The prize was proposed during the “International Workshop on Paolo Farinella, the scientist and the man“, held in Pisa in 2010, and the 2020 edition is supported by the Europlanet Society.

The tenth Paolo Farinella Prize will be awarded to a young scientist with outstanding contributions in the field of planetary science concerning “Structure, Physics and Dynamics of Giant Planets”, including work on the composition, atmospheric dynamics, and interior structure of giant planets inside or outside of our solar system. The award winner will be honoured during the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2020. It will also honor the outstanding scientific contributions of Adam Showman (1968-2020) who had accepted to be a member of the prize committee and passed away unexpectedly twenty years after Paolo Farinella. 

For the 10th “Paolo Farinella” Prize the terms and rules are as follows:

  1. A competition is announced to award the “Paolo Farinella” Prize for the year 2020. The prize consists of a plate, a certificate and the amount of 1500 €. The winner is expected to give a Prize lecture during EPSC 2020.
  2. The winner will be selected on the basis of his/her overall research results in the field of “Structure, Physics and Dynamics of Giant Planets”. 
  3. Nominations must be sent by email to the following addresses: tristan.guillot@oca.eu,acb@ua.es and david.lucchesi@inaf.it, using the downloadable form** DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 1 JUNE**
  4. The nominations for the “Paolo Farinella” Prize can be made by any researcher that works in the field of planetary sciences following the indications in the attached form. Self nominations are acceptable. The candidates should have international and interdisciplinary collaborations and should be not older than the age of Paolo when he passed away, 47 years, on May 15, 2020. 
  5. The winner of the prize will be selected before June 20 by the “Paolo Farinella” Prize Committee composed of outstanding scientists in planetary sciences, with specific experience in the field. 
  6. The Prize Committee will consider all the nominations, but will be entitled to autonomously consider other candidates.

Previous recipients of the “Paolo Farinella Prize” were:

  • 2011: William F. Bottke, for his contribution to the field of “Physics and dynamics of small solar system bodies” 
  • 2012: John Chambers, for his contribution to the field of “Formation and early evolution of the solar system 
  • 2013: Patrick Michel, for his contribution to the field of ” Collisional processes in the Solar System”
  • 2014: David Vokrouhlicky, for his contribution to the field of “Non gravitational forces in the Solar System”
  • 2015: Nicolas Biver, for his contribution to the field of “Dynamics and physics of comets
  • 2016: Kleomenis Tsiganis, for his contribution to the field of “Applications of celestial mechanics to the natural bodies of our solar system”.
  • 2017: Simone Marchi, for his contribution to the field of “Physics and dynamics of the inner planets of the solar system and their satellites
  • 2018: Francis Nimmo, for his contribution to the field of “Giant planets satellite systems
  • 2019: Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo, jointly, for their contribution to the field of “The Trans-Neptunian Population