NEW FOR 2011 - The criteria for the awarding of the Herzberg medal has been changed from an age-based requirement to one based on years of research. The new wording appears below.

This medal is awarded for outstanding achievement in any field of research by a Canadian physicist who has successfully defended their doctoral thesis within the last 12 years at the time of the award, excluding an allowance of one year per child for parental leave.

The next medal will be awarded in the year 2012. Deadline for nominations is January 14, 2012.

Nomination Criteria

• The nominator must be a member of the CAP. 
• The nominee must be a member in good standing of the CAP or a Council-approved Canadian professional science society (see list below) in order to be nominated. 
• The nominee must have spent the major part (i.e. more than one-half) of his/her working career in Canada or must have made a major contribution to physics after returning to a permanent position in Canada.
• In the year of the award, the nominee must normally be within 12 years of his/her thesis defence. For example, the thesis defence must have occured on or after January 1999 for the 2011 award.
  • More than 12 years are allowed to account for special circumstances, e.g., parental or medical leave. Proper documentation must be submitted.

Council-approved Canadian professional science society

The nominee must belong to one of the following societies to be eligble for the CAP Herzberg Medal:

• Canadian Association of Physicists
• Canadian Astronomical Society
• Canadian Geophysical Union
• Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
• Canadian Organization for Medical Physicists
• Canadian Society for Chemistry