It is our pleasure to announce the 4^th ECCO PhD Journal Article Award, sponsored by the International Complement Society (ICS). The award will be presented by the ECCO committee members at the 30^th International Complement Workshop, Brisbane, Australia.

Eligibility:

Early-Career Researchers (ECRs, defined as graduate, Ph.D. or post-doc level up to 5 years post-Ph.D.) who published a peer-reviewed article are eligible, if:

• The ECR is 1st author or shared 1st author on the article
• The article was published within the last 2 years (2023 - 2025)
• The published work was (or will be) included in the PhD work thesis
• The main focus of the article was the complement system
• All applicants must be registered as a member of ECCO. (Membership is free and ECRs can directly register here)
• The applicant is registered for the 30^th International Complement Workshop, Brisbane, Australia (September 14 – 19, 2025)

Applications should include:

1) Short Curriculum Vitae (1 page):

• Don’t use any general metrics (e.g. H-index, Journal Impact Factor) to avoid narrow assessments that merely look at proxies of academic impact, but disregard quality, originality, validity, sentiment and societal impact. You may also not mention total citations, acquired sum of raised grants or prizes. In case you mention grants or prizes, you must provide context, e.g. by describing how the opportunities offered by the grant or prize were used.

2) The published article (PDF version)

3) Motivation letter (1 – 2 pages):

• Briefly address at least the following points: What is the most relevant outcome of the Journal Article and why? What was your contribution to the Journal Article? Why did you choose a PhD project in complement research? Which challenges did you have to overcome for your PhD work? Why should you get the ECCO PhD Journal Article Award? 

Application Deadline:

The application deadline is July 15, 2025. The ECCO committee will select the awardee, who will be notified of the decision by end of July 2025.

The application documents (as one single pdf) have to be submitted electronically to ecco@complement.org.

Re-Submissions from past applications are welcome and will be accepted.

Prize:

The Winner of the ECCO PhD Journal Article Award will receive 500€ and a signed certificate from ECCO. The award recipient will also be interviewed as ECCO Scientist of the Month and announced on ECCO social media platforms.

Feel free to contact the ECCO committee (ecco@complement.org) for any questions regarding the ECCO PhD Journal Article Award.