About the Award

Call: Wladimir Köppen Award 2024

The call for the WKP 2024 has expired. The next call will take place in fall 2025.

Each year, CLICCS nominates excellent doctoral theses in climate and Earth system research for the Wladimir-Köppen-Award. The award is worth €5,000 and targets excellent doctoral dissertations with a focus on climate research. From 2009 to 2018 the Köppen Prize was awarded by the Cluster of Eczellenz CliSAP. Since 2019 the Cluster of Excellence CLICCS has taken over this role.

Application requirements

The award is awarded annually to talented young scientists who fulfill the following criteria:

who have completed their doctorate in a German-speaking country,
have completed a doctorate in German or English,
the work should not have been completed more than two years ago at the time of application
and candidates should not be older than 30 at the time of completion of the work. Child-raising periods and care obligations will of course be taken into account.

Who can make a recommendation and what should it contain?

Supervisors, professors and group leaders can propose candidates and submit a letter of recommendation. In addition to the letter of recommendation, we require:

a digital copy of the proposed doctoral thesis (as a pdf)
a curriculum vitae of the candidate.

The award jury

The award jury consists of specialists with great expertise in areas relevant to the topics nominated. CLICCS Scientific Steering Committee selects all jury members. The jury reviews all doctoral theses before completing comparative evaluations and providing the Steering Committee with recommendations. The final decision is based on the jury’s assessment.

Are periods of child-raising and care obligations taken into account in the age limit of 30 years at the time of the disputation?

Yes, child-raising periods and care obligations are taken into account. Please submit the relevant documents as proof with your application.

Should the CV also include the candidate's date of birth?

Yes, the CV should include the candidate's date of birth, as they should not be older than 30 at the time of the dissertation.