The Australian and New Zealand Optical Society Postgraduate Student Prize recognises outstanding PhD students’ contribution to the field of optics and photonics in Australia and New Zealand. Through this prize, The Australian and New Zealand Optical Society (ANZOS) wishes to encourage participation in national and international conferences by postgraduate student recipients of this award, The prize is to be used as a grant for conference travel valued at up to $1500.

Eligibility criteria

1. The applicant and at least one of their supervisors must be members of the Australian and New Zealand Optical Society. Non-members of the ANZOS may join the Society concurrently with their application for the prize.
2. The applicant must be enrolled in a postgraduate research degree, with a project in optics or a related area.  
3. The applicant must either be a) a citizen or permanent resident of Australia or New Zealand, and/or
   b) be enrolled in a postgraduate degree in Australia or New Zealand. 
4. The prize cannot be awarded more than once to any individual.

Selection criteria

An applicant must be sufficiently advanced in their research project to have obtained significant results in optics or a related area, suitable for presentation at the proposed conference. Preference will be given to applicants who intend to use the prize to attend a major conference outside Australia and New Zealand. The successful applicant will be expected to write a summary of the conference for ANZOS News.

It is not essential that the results to be presented should have been accepted for the proposed conference at the time of application, but no payment of the prize will be made until evidence of such acceptance is provided to the Society. Applicants should provide an outline of their results to be presented (for example, a submitted conference paper) and should explain the benefits that would arise from their attendance at that conference.

The ANZOS award may not cover the full cost of the applicant's attendance at the proposed conference. Applicants should identify any sources of additional funding for their travel costs, and provide evidence of such support (for example, in the supervisor's letter of recommendation). Students with no identifiable supplementary travel support will not be disadvantaged in the selection process.

Since the research supervisor's report is a major factor in the assessment process, supervisors should be prepared to rank their students against the selection criteria if contacted by the selection committee.

The nomination should include

1. A two page document by the applicant providing

   • Details of the postgraduate research project including a summary of the research achievement to be presented and its significance
     

   • Details of the proposed conference including its status and relevance to optics

   • Details of participation in the conference (nature of contribution as specified above);
     
   • Details of predicted expenses, as well as other (probable or confirmed) sources of funding for attendance at the conference
   • A statement confirming that the candidate meets the eligibility criteria listed above
   • Statement of an agreement to write a summary of the conference for ANZOS News.
   • Names and contact details of two referees, one of whom must be the candidate's research supervisor 
2. Curriculum vitae;
3. List of publications, conference papers, theses, reports, etc.

The two reference letters should be sent directly by the referees to the ANZOS secretary.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring the letters reach the secretary by the closing date.

Applications from female candidates and members of other historically under-represented groups in STEM are highly encouraged.

Applications should be sent to the ANZOS Secretary. The Prize is judged by a committee appointed by the ANZOS Council. For the 2021 award, all nomination materials must reach the ANZOS secretary by 28 May 2021.

     Previous winners of the Postgraduate Student Prize:

• 2020: Kirill Koshelev - Australian National University
• 2019: Gayathri Bharathan - Macquarie University and Kai Wang - Australian National University
• 2018: Rocio Camacho Morales - Australian National University
• 2017: Litty Thekkekara - RMIT University
• 2016: Dhruv Saxena - Australian National University
• 2015: Katie Chong - Australian National University
• 2014: Matthew Collins - The University of Sydney
• 2013: Michael Taylor - The University of Queensland
• 2011: Robert Williams - Macquarie University
• 2010: Sebastian Saliba - University of Melbourne
• 2009: Stephen Christopher Warren-Smith - University of Adelaide
• 2008: Michael Jones - Queensland University of Technology
• 2007: Felicity Cox - University of Sydney
• 2006: Kristy C. Vernon - Queensland University of Technology
• 2005: Aidan Brooks - Adelaide University
• 2004: Ilya Shadrivov - Australian National University and  Thomas White - The University of Sydney
• 2003: Joseph Hope - Australian National University
• 2002: Luke Maquire - University of Melbourne
• 2001: Winfried Hensinger - University of Queensland
• 2000: Saiedeh Saghafi - Macquarie University
• 1999: Daniel Day - Victoria University
• 1998: Marlies Fiese - University of Queensland and Justin Blows - Macquarie University
• 1997: Tanya Monro - The University of Sydney
• 1996: Andrew White - The Australian National University
• 1995: David Balaic - University of Melbourne
• 1994: Howard Wiseman - University of Queensland
• 1993: Duncan Butler - University of Melbourne