Criteria

The PMI Young Researcher Award requires candidates to demonstrate the following criteria: 

• Nominee’s research contributes to the theory of project, program, and/or portfolio management. This can be demonstrated through published works, particularly those subjected to peer-review; examples include journal articles, conference papers, books or book chapters, peer-reviewed keynote presentations, and invited contributions.
• The nominee’s research is motivated by real problems and contributes to project management knowledge and practical impact in project/program/portfolio management.
• The nominee’s research has the potential to make a significant impact on project management in practice and the wider profession.

Rules & Conditions

• Only one PMI Young Researcher Award will be given annually.
• Nominations that are submitted incomplete, incorrectly formatted, late, or in a language other than English will not be considered.
• PMI will not reimburse any expense for assembling nomination or presentation materials.
• PMI reserves the right within its sole discretion, and at any time up to presentation of the award, to determine whether a nomination is or has become ineligible.
  • If this happens, PMI will notify the lead nominator and the candidate of its decision as soon as possible.
  • Declined nominations cannot be revised or resubmitted.
• PMI reserves the right not to present the award for a particular year in which the evaluations completed indicate that nominations and supporting materials did not sufficiently demonstrate the stated criteria.

All submissions are rigorously reviewed by a panel of senior researchers in project management, leading to the selection of finalists and one overall winner.

Step 1 — Application

To begin the application process, the nominee must be nominated by one or more individuals. If multiple people support the nomination, one must be designated as the lead nominator. The lead nominator is responsible for assembling and submitting the complete nomination package through the PMI Awards Platform, including all required elements listed below.

• Nominee's curriculum vitae (Mandatory)
• Basic information about the nominator and the nominee, including contact information, education, as well as length and nature of their relationship (Mandatory)
• A statement of the nominee’s achievements and their potential to impact the academic field of project management (Mandatory, up to 750 words)
• A statement on how the nominee's research relates to real problems and can contribute to project, program, and/or portfolio management practices (Mandatory, up to 750 words).
• Two letters of recommendation, from people other than the nominator, identifying the rationale and significant potential of the nominee’s research (Mandatory)
• Statement on the successful application of the nominee's research outcomes in practice, or contribution to knowledge through extraction of learning from practice (Optional)

Step 2 — Review Process

Verify the nominee’s eligibility and that all required materials have been submitted. Distribute and collect required paperwork, including PMI release and permissions forms.

Step 3 — Global Evaluation

A review committee of global volunteers evaluates the nominations. Nominees are scored based on the rubric for each criterion.

Step 4 — Award Winner

The recipient of the PMI Young Researcher Award will be selected and notified following completion of the previous step. The award will be formally announced during the PMI Global Summit.

After the award presentation, the recipient will be publicized through PMI communication channels and external media and may coordinate additional publicity with PMI.