This award recognizes outstanding contributions and leadership to the SIGIR community in research, community engagement, and/or diversity, equity, and inclusion by an early career researcher (ECR). Awards are given annually and presented at the ACM SIGIR conference.

Awards
ECRs are people within seven years post-conferral date (the date recorded on transcripts signifying when the degree was officially recognized) of their PhD. For ECRs whose contributions have been realized over a period longer than seven years from PhD award due to career disruption (pregnancy, major illness, caregiver responsibilities, or other disruptions), the entrant must address this in the entry documentation citing the circumstances of career disruption and demonstrating that the entrant has completed the work within a period of no more than seven years FTE (full-time equivalent) research activity.

There are three categories of awards, each with different criteria:

1. ACM SIGIR excellence in Research for ECRs
   • For single or cumulative research contributions to IR, this includes academic papers, but also other contributions, such as software artifacts, awards, service, patents, etc.
2. ACM SIGIR excellence in Community Engagement for ECRs
   • For contributions to professional service in the IR community (e.g., SIGIR leadership, conference volunteering)
3. ACM SIGIR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for ECRs
   • For contributions around initiating, driving, and supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the community. This can include demonstrating the impact of and positive outcomes for diversity, equity, and inclusion on gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability, cultural background, and age, in combination or in isolation.

ECRs are eligible to win only one award per category throughout their career. An individual can win awards in one or more categories in one year and others in a different year (e.g., win a Research award one year and a Community Engagement award in another year).

ECRs can be nominated for multiple award categories in a single year. A single person can win awards in multiple categories in the same year if they have exceptional accomplishments in those categories.

Submission Guidelines
Nominations for ACM SIGIR ECR Awards should be submitted via email as a single PDF to the selection committee chair, James Allan (sigir-ecr-award at acm.org). Nominations are due by end of day (AoE) on 16 February 2025. We will acknowledge receipt.

Nomination text should be provided for the category or categories for which a nomination is being provided. For example, if an ECR is nominated only for the Research award, only the Research section needs to be completed. The same is true for the other categories. Nominations are permitted for multiple categories, which need to be addressed separately. Please prepare a single PDF named as FirstName_LastName_SIGIR_ECR_Year containing the following:

• ACM SIGIR excellence in Research:
  • Substantial research contributions related to IR (e.g., academic papers, software artifacts, awards, service, patents, etc.). Related disciplines and fields may be considered (no more than 200 words)
• ACM SIGIR excellence in Community Engagement:
  • Community engagement activities within the IR community (no more than 200 words)
• ACM SIGIR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:
  • Activities related to the improvement of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the IR community (no more than 200 words)
• Statement of career aspiration for the next five years (no more than 200 words)
• Career interruptions if applicable (no more than 400 words)
• CV
  • Only include research outputs in the seven years prior to the nomination deadline
• Letters of support: If this is a self-nomination, then include supporting letters from two people other than the nominee who encourage/support the nomination. If this is not a self-nomination, include a letter of support from the nominator and also a second letter of support that encourages/supports the nomination. (This is a change from previous years, so if you are resubmitting a past nomination, please amend it to conform to these guidelines if necessary.)

Additionally:

• Note that nominators must communicate with the nominee to obtain some of the required information.
• Self-nominations are permitted.
• Nominees must be current SIGIR members and active participants in the ACM SIGIR community (e.g., published papers, volunteered, or organized diversity-related events at ACM SIGIR in the past seven years).
• Resubmission of unsuccessful applications is encouraged. Unsuccessful nominations will not be rolled over from year to year.

Selection Process
The ACM SIGIR ECR awards selection committee will assess applications. The committee will follow the ACM Diversity and Inclusion policy (https://www.acm.org/diversity-inclusion/about). The committee’s decision will be final, no feedback will be provided, and no further correspondence will be entered into. The committee reserves the right not to award the prize if they feel all entries are insufficiently worthy.

Award winners will be notified of the outcome of their nomination by email and will be publicly announced at the next SIGIR conference. The award consists of a plaque engraved with the nominee’s name, a $1000 honorarium, and up to $2000 towards support for travel to SIGIR. ACM SIGIR provides funding for the award.

Previous Winners
The following individuals have been recognized for their contributions with an ECR award:

• 2024
  • Research: Qingyao Ai, Bhaskar Mitra, Harrie Oosterhuis, and Xiang Wang
  • Community Engagement: Faegheh Hasibi and Bhaskar Mitra
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Johanne Trippas
• 2023
  • Research: Hamed Zamani and Chenyan Xiong
  • Community Engagement: Hamed Zamani and Chung-Chi Chen
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Maria Maistro

Questions
Please contact the ACM SIGIR ECR awards committee chair for questions about the ECR awards, nominations, or the selection process.