ISB 2027
Awards
ISB 2027 will feature a series of ISB awards recognising outstanding contributions to biomechanics. Many awards are linked to an abstract submitted for presentation at the Congress.
Important: If you apply for an ISB Congress award, you are still required to submit your abstract to the Congress through the abstract submission portal. ISB policy requires that an abstract submitted for an ISB conference award is non-identical to an abstract submitted elsewhere.
Where required, applicants may be asked to provide additional materials (e.g., CV, publications, interpretative summaries, or a full paper). Instructions and deadlines will be communicated directly to shortlisted applicants.
ISB has a policy that an abstract submitted for an ISB conference award is non-identical to an abstract submitted elsewhere. One abstract cannot be used to simultaneously apply for the David Award Winter New Investigator Awards, Carlo de Luca Emerging Scientist Award or the Clinical Biomechanics Award.
Award sessions at the Congress
ISB 2027 will allocate program time for award finalists and winners to present their work, and an awards ceremony will be incorporated into (or prior to) the closing ceremony where certificates will be presented.
How to apply
When submitting your abstract in the ISB 2027 submission portal, select the relevant award option and complete the required eligibility declarations. Award applications close at the abstract submission deadline (Tuesday 12 January 2027, 23:59 Sydney time) unless otherwise stated.
Enquiries: For enquiries related to ISB27 awards, please contact ISB Awards Officers Taylor Dick | t.dick@uq.edu.au and Heiliane de Brito Fontana | heiliane.fontana@ufsc.br
Award categories
ISB 2027 has two different categories for the congress awards. Abstract based awards and non-abstract awards.
Abstract Awards
David Winter New Investigator Awards (Podium and Poster)
As of 2012, these awards are presented in honour of Professor David Winter and his pioneering contribution to the science and application of biomechanics. There are two David Winter awards, one for the best oral presentation and one for the best poster presentation.
Finalists, will be notified before the conference and awardees will be notified during the conference, and asked to present in the final awards ceremony. Please make sure you fulfil each one of the four criteria listed under eligibility below before considering yourself for this award.
The award winners are provided a certificate, a monetary award of USD1500, and will give a plenary presentation in the ISB Congress Awards session. A short biography with an outline of the recipients’ professional background will be published in the ISB Newsletter and on the ISB website.
Candidates must
(i) be the first author of an abstract submitted to the ISB congress for presentation
(ii) not have been awarded PhD by the time of the abstract submission
(iii) have made the major contribution to the research presented in the abstract, and
(iv) personally present the abstract at the ISB Congress.
The abstracts for this competition are solicited with the call for papers of the ISB Congress.
Please use the below tick box questionnaire to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria for this award (note you are not required to submit this questionnaire with your abstract.
Clinical Biomechanics Award
This award recognises excellence in research addressing a clinical problem using biomechanical analysis.
Please note:
The ISB awards officers will reach out to the finalists following the ISB abstract review process.
Timeline of award:
· Shortlist of 5 award nominees are notified and invited to submit full paper: 31 March 2027
· Nominees full paper is due to ISB awards officers (Taylor Dick | t.dick@uq.edu.au and Heiliane de Brito Fontana | heiliane.fontana@ufsc.br): 15 May 2027.
· Successful award winner, and unsuccessful applicants are notified of outcomes: mid-June 2027
The winning paper will be published as the ISB Clinical Biomechanics Award paper in Clinical Biomechanics (subject to a normal peer review process). The first author of the winning paper will receive a certificate and a monetary award of USD1500.
Any scientist may submit an abstract for the award, except members of the ISB Executive Council. The abstract must describe a study related to a clinical problem and contain some form of biomechanical analysis pertaining to the clinical problem. From the abstracts submitted, 5 are selected and nominated for the award. The authors of the 5 selected abstracts are requested to submit a full length paper prepared according to the guidelines of Clinical Biomechanics. The paper must be:
(i) Entirely original
(ii) not published at the time of the ISB-congress nor submitted for publication to any Book or Journal other than Clinical Biomechanics.
A jury will evaluate the full papers and select the winning paper. The first author of the winning paper is expected to give a plenary presentation of the winning paper at the ISB-congress of the same year. Abstracts are solicited for this competition with the call for papers for the ISB Congress.
Please include the below tick box questionnaire within your application package.
Carlo De Luca Emerging Scientist Award
The ISB has had great pleasure to announce and award the Carlo de Luca Emerging Scientist Award in honour of Professor Carlo de Luca and his pioneering contribution to the science and application of biomechanics, in particular in the area of electromyography. The award honors excellence in graduate research in the area of motor control and electromyography.
Please note:
You are required to submit your abstract simultaneously to the ISB Awards Officers and to the ISB congress submission system
The award honors excellence in graduate research in the area of motor control and electromyography and is associated with a monetary award of USD2500. The award winner is selected prior to the ISB Congress and is expected to deliver a plenary presentation within the ISB Congress Awards Ceremony.
Each candidate must:
(i) Provide a curriculum vitae (max. 3 pages) and include at least two (2) first author, full articles which have been published in peer reviewed scientific journals that they have written in the area of motor control/electromyography and provide interpretative summaries describing the contribution of each article.
(ii) submit an abstract, in the area of motor control/electromyography to the ISB Congress organizers.
Please send your applications to both ISB Awards Officers Taylor Dick | t.dick@uq.edu.au and Heiliane de Brito Fontana | heiliane.fontana@ufsc.br by 28 February 2027.
Please include the below tick box questionnaire within your application package.
Candidates must:
(i) Be at an early stage of their scientific career and, to be eligible must not have received their PhD degree before the previous ISB Congress (two years prior to the Congress where the award will be given).
(ii) Current graduate students, including MSc level students, are also eligible.
Non Abstract Awards
Jacquelin Perry Emerging Scientist Award
Proudly sponsored by the International Society of Biomechanics
The Jacquelin Perry Emerging Female Scientist Award is designed to acknowledge female researchers who have performed superior biomechanics research early in their career.
The award winner receives a certificate and a monetary award of USD5000 for scientific purposes, such as visiting another research group to collaborate on a project. The competition is held each year when there is an ISB conference. The winner of the award is expected to give a plenary presentation within the ISB Congress Awards Ceremony on recent studies that have contributed to the award.
Each candidate must submit their curriculum vitae (max. 3 pages), identify at least two first-author full articles in peer reviewed scientific journals that they have written in an area of Biomechanics, and provide interpretative summaries describing the contribution of each article. Members of the ISB Executive Council are not eligible to apply for this award.
Please send your applications to both ISB Awards Officers Taylor Dick | t.dick@uq.edu.au and Heiliane de Brito Fontana | heiliane.fontana@ufsc.br by 28 February 2027.
Please include the below tick box questionnaire within your application package.
To be eligible for the award, a candidate must
(1) be a member of ISB and identify as a woman
(2) be post-doctoral but not more than 5 years in the congress year.
The ISB recognises that career interruptions can have a significant impact on the period between conferral of a researcher’s PhD, and a subsequent application for PSA. The ISB allows extension of the eligibility periods for up to 2 years for documented career interruptions such as family or medical leave.
Promising Scientist Award
The Promising Scientist Award is designed to acknowledge people who have performed superior biomechanics research early in their career.
The award winner receives a certificate and a monetary award of USD5000 for scientific purposes, such as visiting another research group to collaborate on a project. The competition is held each year when there is an ISB conference. The winner of the award is expected to give a plenary presentation within the ISB Congress Awards Ceremony on the recent studies that have contributed to the award.
To be eligible for the award, a candidate must
(1) be a member of the ISB
(2) be post-doctoral but not more than 5 years in the congress year.
The ISB recognises that career interruptions can have a significant impact on the period between conferral of a researcher’s PhD, and a subsequent application for PSA. The ISB allows extension of the eligibility periods for up to 2 years for documented career interruptions such as family or medical leave.
Each candidate must submit their curriculum vitae (max. 3 pages), identify at least two first author full articles in peer reviewed scientific journals that they have written in an area of Biomechanics, and provide interpretative summaries describing the contribution of each article. Members of the ISB Executive Council are not eligible to apply for this award.
Please send your applications to both ISB Awards Officers Taylor Dick | t.dick@uq.edu.au and Heiliane de Brito Fontana | heiliane.fontana@ufsc.br by 28 February 2027.
Please include the below tick box questionnaire within your application package.
The ISB Mentorship in Biomechanics Award
The ISB Mentorship in Biomechanics Award is new award as of 2027 designed to recognize outstanding mentorship in biomechanics, demonstrated through sustained commitment to the development, support, and advancement of students, trainees, and early-career researchers, while also maintaining excellence in biomechanics research.
The first author of the winning paper will receive a certificate and a monetary award of USD5,000.
Applications must include:
(i) A letter of support describing the nominee’s mentoring philosophy, activities, achievements, and impact, as well as their research accomplishments, including a list of up to five trainee led publications, and
(ii) a maximum 3-page curriculum vitae with mentoring activities and accomplishments clearly highlighted and
(iii) Up to 3 page of a document compiling support statements from previous students and trainees.
Please send the nomination packages to both ISB Awards Officers, Taylor Dick | t.dick@uq.edu.au and Heiliane de Brito Fontana | heiliane.fontana@ufsc.br by 28 February 2027.
Please include the below tick box questionnaire within your application package.
To be eligible for the award, a candidate must
(1) be a member of the ISB
(2) be between 5 and 20 years from finishing their PhD.
Award applicants can be nominated by another person (or group of people) in the biomechanics community or self-nominated.