SOLARIS Award 2026 for best doctoral thesis in concentrating solar thermal technologies

Applications for the EU-SOLARIS ERIC Annual Awards 2026 are open until 30 April 2026. EU-SOLARIS ERIC is a consortium of European countries jointly developing research infrastructures for concentrating solar thermal (CST) technologies. The awards recognize outstanding scientific and technical achievements in this field and include two categories:

• Best doctoral thesis in CST technologies and their applications defended within the past three-year period (2023 to 2025)
• Outstanding contribution to improving CST research infrastructures’ capabilities and services developed within the past three-year period (2023-2026)

“Our scientific & technical committee will select the winners in both categories by 20 May,” explained Teresa Robles, Project Manager of EU-SOLARIS ERIC. The awards will be presented during the annual doctoral colloquium gala dinner in June.

What winners receive

Recipients (individuals or teams) in both categories will obtain:

• An official award certificate
• An invitation for one representative to attend the next SolarPACES conference (full registration fee covered)
• Presentation of the award during the EU-SOLARIS doctoral colloquium
• Public announcement on the EU-SOLARIS ERIC website and other media channels

Applications can be submitted by email. What the proposal must include depends on the category. So please check here for further information.

In 2025, Dr. Igor Pataro from the University of Almería received the Best Doctoral Thesis Award for his dissertation titled Advances in optimal and predictive control approaches for solar thermal systems enhancement. Photo: EU-SOLARIS ERIC

“Although the awards were initially part of the Solarize project, they will continue as independent EU-SOLARIS events after the project concludes in December 2027,” confirmed Robles. Future PhD candidates will therefore continue to have the opportunity to apply in the coming years.

Full details of the awards and application process are available here: https://eu-solaris.eu/annualawards/