The Center for Micro- and Nanotechnologies (ZMN) at TU Ilmenau, together with the Association for the Promotion of Micro- and Nanotechnologies Ilmenau e.V., announces the ZMN Doctoral Award, endowed with EUR 1,000. The award honors an outstanding doctoral thesis that has made particularly extensive use of and/or contributed to the further development of the ZMN infrastructure.
Application Criteria
Eligible are doctoral theses that:
demonstrate intensive use of the ZMN infrastructure,
stand out through a high degree of innovation,
and are convincing in terms of their scientific significance.
Eligibility and Submission
The ZMN Doctoral Award is open to all doctoral graduates whose work has made particularly extensive use of the ZMN infrastructure.
Self-nominations are welcome, as are nominations by supervisors, institutes, or research groups.
Eligible are doctoral theses completed between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025 (degree completed, i.e. defense successfully passed and publication requirements fulfilled).
The following documents are required for submission:
a justification of no more than half a page explaining why the thesis deserves the award, with particular reference to the use of the ZMN infrastructure, its innovative character, and its scientific relevance,
the doctoral thesis as a PDF,
proof of the final grade awarded to the thesis.
Procedure
Submission deadline:17 April 2026
A jury consisting of members of the IMN Board will select the best submissions.
The nominees will be invited to present their doctoral thesis in a short talk as part of the TU Ilmenau Science Forum.
The award ceremony will take place during the graduation ceremony of TU Ilmenau.
Submission and Contact
Please send the application documents by email to zmn-org@tu-ilmenau.de by 17 April 2026.
Subject line:ZMN Doctoral Award 2026
