Early Career Investigator Selection 2022

Introducing the Early Career Investigator Selection and Best Paper Award

To highlight the astounding work of early career principal investigators, Journal of Applied Physics is proud to introduce the first Early Career Investigator Selection in 2022. All 2022 publications with eligible principal investigators will be reviewed by the Selection Committee for inclusion in the first-ever Early Career Investigator Selection.

Eligibility: The primary principal investigator must be within 10 years of their PhD defense date (not including career breaks such as family or medical leave) upon completion of the manuscript submission. The Principal Investigator is primarily responsible for the origination of the project, for its overall direction, and for leading the interpretation of the results.

Scope: The scope of the special collection encompasses the entire scope of the journal.

Nomination Procedure: Any authors meeting the early career and principal investigator requirements may submit an Article or Method for consideration in the Early Career Investigator Selection by selecting the option during submission. Authors may also be nominated by a colleague, mentor, or supervisor to be invited to write a Review, Perspective, or Tutorial paper. See the journal’s editorial policies for descriptions of each article type. The nomination letter (maximum 1 page) should include the proposed topic and article type for the invitation and a statement on the suitability of the nominated author to write the proposed paper. The Selection Committee will then determine if the author should be formally invited by the Journal to write the proposed paper as part of the Early Career Investigator Selection. Unlike Articles and Methods, all invited Reviews, Perspectives, and Tutorials, if accepted for publication, will be automatically included in the Early Career Investigator Selection. Nominations may be submitted to the Selection Committee at any time via email to JAP-JournalManager@aip.org.

How to submit: Submit for consideration through the online submission system. During submission, the submitting author should answer “Yes” to the question of eligibility of the primary principal investigator, identify which author is the principal investigator, report the date of their PhD defense, and briefly describe the author’s role as principal investigator. Optionally, a brief biography (maximum 65 words) and photograph of the principal investigator may be submitted in a cover letter to be used in the Editorial of the 2022 Early Career Investigator Selection.

Example Biographies:

• Jane Doe (she/her), Associate Professor, School of Engineering, University of Applied Physics. She received her PhD in Physics from the Institute of Applied Physics in 2012 and performed postdoctoral research at the Condensed Matter University. She joined University of Applied Physics as Assistant Professor in 2014 and earned tenure in 2021. Her research interests include condensed matter physics, quantum materials, and data science applications.
• John Doe (he/his), Assistant Professor, Physics Department, University of Applied Physics. He received his PhD in 2015 in Materials Science from Top Research University and was appointed to Assistant Professor at University of Applied Physics in 2018. His research interests include solar harvesting, materials characterization, and advanced epitaxial techniques.

Photograph permissions: Photographs must be accompanied by a License to Publish Image form to be published in the Selection Editorial.

Peer Review: All submissions must undergo the standard peer review process and meet the journal’s acceptance criteria in order to be published in Journal of Applied Physics. Acceptance of Articles and Methods into the journal does not guarantee acceptance into the Early Career Investigator Selection. The Selection Committee will make the final decisions on which published Articles and Methods, along with invited Reviews, Perspectives, and Tutorials, are included in the Selection.

Selection Process: The Early Career Investigator Selection Committee will decide which Articles and Methods to include in the Selection based on their quality, significance, and potential impact. The Selection Committee will also have access to reviewer reports and comments obtained during the peer review process. The Selection Committee will choose a single paper as the Best Paper. The Committee is comprised of Editors and Editorial Board Members.

Best Paper Award: The principal investigator of the Best Paper will be invited to join the Editorial Advisory Board and included in the Early Career Investigator Selection Committee for the following year.

We look forward to your submissions to the Early Career Investigator Selection! If you have any questions, please contact us.