Justice Oak Award for Outstanding Thesis in Astronomy

1. About the award

The society gives the Justice V. G. Oak Award for outstanding Ph.D. thesis in Astronomy by an Indian student. The objective of the award is to encourage excellence amongst research students in India. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 20,000.

2. Nomination criteria

The thesis should have been formally defended in the period between 01 Aug (one year prior to year of award) and 31 July of the award year. For example, the final thesis viva should have been conducted between 01 Aug 2024 and 31 July 2025 (both dates included) for the award of the year 2025, to be presented in the ASI meeting of 2026. All formalities for the award of degree must be completed at the time of nomination.

3. Application

All nominations for the award must be received by the ASI, by the deadline as indicated on the website of the ASI. Nominations must be submitted via the online interface on the ASI website. Nominations can be made by the heads of the institutions and other eminent members of the ASI. A nominator can submit only a single application for the award.

For the award year 2025, the nominations must be received by 12th January 2026. The nominees should have defended their thesis between 01 Aug 2024 and 31 July 2025 (inclusive of both dates) for consideration of the award.

Nominations must include the following material:

1. Name of Nominee
2. Details of Nominee
   
   1. Affiliation
   2. Address for correspondence
   3. Date of birth
   4. Email ID
   5. Mobile number
   6. Curriculum vitae of the candidate including full list of publications
3. Nomination letter with signature and date
4. Summary of the scientific work constituting the thesis
5. A statement regarding why the nominator considers the thesis outstanding
6. List of publications relevant to the Thesis
7. Reprints relevant to the recommendation (please add only hyperlinks)
8. Citations of papers published
9. Details of the Proposer
   
   1. Name
   2. Designation and Affiliation
   3. Address
   4. Email
   5. Mobile number

Online form to receive nominations is closed.

4. Selection Process

A panel of five judges duly appointed by the executive council of the society, shall select the outstanding thesis. The panel of judges will communicate the result of its deliberations to the ASI council.
 
5. Announcement of the Award

The Justice V. G. Oak Award for outstanding Ph.D. thesis will be given at the ASI meeting and the awardee will be asked to make a short presentation of their thesis work.

The following is the list of awardees: