Call for Nominations: IEEE-RAS Outstanding Women in Robotics & Automation (WiRA) Paper Awards @ ICRA26

In an effort to promote excellence and recognize the impact of female researchers in Robotics and Automation at different stages in their academic careers, we offer two awards:

• Outstanding WiRA Student Paper Award: Presented to a student female researcher with first-authorship on a paper accepted for presentation at ICRA 2026. The student must be the first author on the accepted paper. 
• Outstanding WiRA Early Career Contribution Award: Presented to an early-career female researcher with co-authorship on a paper accepted for presentation at ICRA 2026. The female researcher must have driven and supervised the research direction of the accepted paper as advisor or co-advisor of the work.

Only nominees with papers accepted at ICRA 2026 can apply. Undergraduates, master and doctoral students are eligible for the Outstanding Student Paper Award. Eligible nominees for the Early Career Contribution Award are postdoctoral researchers, tenure-track (or equivalent) assistant professors, and female researchers within 7 years after completion of their Ph.D. (excluding maternity and medical leaves).  

Only conference papers submitted to and accepted for publication at ICRA 2026 are eligible, papers transferred from IEEE T-ASE, T-RO, RA-L or RAM are not eligible. 

The WiRA award is awarded to an individual and does not refer to the lab or collaborators. The same paper cannot be considered for both WiRA awards.

Self-nominations: female authors that are eligible for either award should submit:

• The full accepted paper.
• Reviewer and editorial comments.
• A cover letter justifying the nomination detailing the significance of their contribution.
• Proof of RAS membership and status (student, early career, etc.).

The RAS WIE committee will initially evaluate all nominations, selecting a limited number based on eligibility criteria, overall quality and editorial feedback. The papers of the top candidates will then be assessed by external reviewers. The external reviewers will be chosen for their expertise and avoid conflicts of interest to preserve the integrity of the evaluation process.

• All finalists will be announced and informed by May 17, 2026 (AoE)
• All finalists will present their papers at the WIE luncheon on June 2, 2026
• Winners of each category will be announced at the end of the WIE luncheon.
• Winners will receive a prize of 1,000 USD to support travel and research costs, including: travel to ICRA, meals, electronic devices (e.g., tablets, phones, smart-watches, etc.) and any relevant research supplies (e.g., books, sensors, tools, subscriptions to online courses, etc.) which will be reimbursed via Concur.

Let us encourage female researchers by acknowledging and celebrating their achievements!!  

Any questions on eligibility can be directed to [email protected]