The IEEE-RAS Women in Engineering (WIE) Committee is excited to announce the call for the first edition of the Outstanding Women in Robotics & Automation (WiRA) Paper Awards.
Scope
In an effort to promote excellence and recognize the impact of female researchers in Robotics and Automation at different stages in their academic career, 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 2025. 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 2025. The female researcher must have driven and supervised the research direction of the accepted paper as advisor or co-advisor of the work.
Eligibility
Only nominees with papers accepted at ICRA 2025 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.
Only conference papers submitted to and accepted for publication at ICRA 2025 are eligible, papers transferred from RA-L and TRO 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.
How to Apply
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.).
- Nomination Form
Nomination Deadline
May 2, 2025 at 11:59pm AOE.
Evaluation Policy
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.
Award Details
- Finalists will be informed by May 12, 2025.
- Finalists will be invited to present their papers at the RAS-WIE luncheon.
- Winners will be announced at the RAS-WIE luncheon and will be awarded a WiRA certificate and a prize of 1,000 USD sponsored by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) UK.
Awards Sponsor
Lets encourage female researchers by acknowledging and celebrating their achievements!
Any questions on eligibility can be directed to [email protected]
