The Entomological Society of India

ESI-Best Ph.D. Thesis Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Research in Entomology.

The Entomological Society of India, New Delhi.

• To provide recognition to outstanding original research done by Ph.D. degree students
• To provide incentive for enhancing the quality of Ph.D. thesis research
• To promote high quality Ph.D. thesis research in emerging priority areas

This award is meant exclusively for Ph.D. thesis related to entomological sciences from any Indian University. A total of three awards will be given, in exceptional cases it can be increased or decreased based on award committee's decision. Each award consists of citation and memento.

• Any Indian who has completed Ph.D. in Entomology with thesis work focused on insect/mites/other non-insect pests excluding nematodes and must be a member or life member of the society.
• The Certificate of the degree/provisional degree must be dated between 1st July 2023 to 31st December, 2024. Those who got best Ph.D. thesis awards already in any such competition are not eligible, and a declaration to this effect in the application is required.
• The research work must be original.
• The results obtained must have the potential of enhancing the knowledge in the frontier areas.
• Must have published/accepted at least two good research papers in a journal having NAAS rating of 6 and above (NAAS rating as on 01.01.2024). These must be relevant to the objectives of the Ph.D. thesis.

There shall be a Judging Committee consisting of three independent members, with the President of the Society as chairperson. Wherever deemed necessary the Judging Committee may identify a panel of experts to assist it in the evaluation of the applications. Taking into consideration the evaluation by the experts the Judging Committee shall evaluate the theses and make recommendations to the President of the Society.

1. Conceptual clarity and coherence of the research problem (10)
2. Scientific, technological and socio-economic relevance and priority of the research problem (10)
3. Compilation, analysis and interpretation of existing literature, quality of illustrations and photographs (5)
4. Organization of research work. Complementarity of the various experiments and investigations and their integration into a logical plan of work (10)
5. Conduct of the research programmes: Scientific soundness and technological modernity of the experimental methods and logical planning (10)
6. Scientific validity and accuracy of the analysis of experimental data (10)
7. Principal findings: To what extent do they meet the objectives of the research programme (10)
8. In what way the findings constitute a significant advance in our knowledge and understanding (10)
9. Research papers published and their quality as judged by the NAAS rating (20)
10. Patent/copyrights applied and accepted (5)

Applications made in the prescribed form, which will be available from the ESI website. The Judging Committee will screen the applications, identify outstanding entries, and make recommendations to the Society along with the draft citations. The final decision on the award (in the absence of suitable outstanding theses) rests with the President of Society.

Complete nominations are to be submitted through online portal of ESI (www.entosocindia.org) in single PDF (hardcopy will not be entertained) on or before 11.59 PM of the 31 October 2025. No correspondence will be entertained in this regard.

The presentation of the award will be made at any official event of the Society and will be informed to the awardees. The awardee would give a presentation on the achievements of his work to the audience consisting of eminent scientists.