Call for awards

The International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) is delighted to announce that nominations are now sought for several awards and the Emmons Invited Plenary Lectureship tobe presented at the 15th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science, June 8 to June 12,2026 at the ESPACE ENCAN, Congress Center, La Rochelle, France. These awards are presented by the IAFSS and the International Forum of Fire Research Directors (FORUM) every3 years at the IAFSS’ triennial symposium. These awards recognize a range of substantial achievements in the field of fire science, recognizing researchers at all stages of their careers. Below, a summary of awards, nomination deadlines, and submission requirements are provided.

All nominations can be submitted via e-mail: awards@iafss.org.

Nominations are now open for the following awards:

• The Howard W. Emmons Invited Plenary Lectureship – Nominations due May 1, 2025
• Kunio Kawagoe Gold Medal – Nominations due June 1, 2025
• Proulx and Magnusson Early Career Awards – Nominations due May 15, 2025
• Best Thesis Award “Excellence in Research” – Nominations due June 1, 2025

‍‍In addition, a number of other awards will be presented at the symposium but, by their nature, do not have nomination requirements:

• Philip Thomas Medal of Excellence
• Dougal Drysdale Award for Extraordinary Service to the IAFSS
• Sheldon Tieszen Student Awards Sponsored by the FORUM
• FORUM Sjölin Awards (nominations and selection by FORUM members)
• FORUM Mid-Career Awards (nominations and selection by FORUM members)
• Best Poster and Image Awards‍

More information on past recipients and the individuals commemorated with the awards is available on the IAFSS webpage: http://iafss.org/awards/

The Howard W. Emmons Invited Plenary Lectureship – Nominations Due May 1, 2025

The Howard W. Emmons Invited Plenary Lectureship is a prestigious recognition of life-long contributions to and career achievements in fire science and engineering. The Emmons Lectureship is presented for distinguished lifetime achievement in Fire Safety Science; it is not a best paper award. The award consists of an invitation to prepare a paper to be included in theSymposium proceedings and an associated plenary lecture at the Symposium. Symposium registration fees are waived, and a stipend provides travel support.

Nominations are sought from IAFSS members. Please submit nominations, including a justification and contact details of the proposer via e-mail: awards@iafss.org, by May 1, 2025. The justification should not exceed two pages in length and should describe the nominee’s accomplishments and their significance. Self-nominations are not accepted. A nominee may or may not be a member of IAFSS, while the proposer must be a member. Nominations are confidential and should not be disclosed to a nominee. The awardee will be contacted by June Call for Awards30, 2025. The awardee is to present the plenary lecture at the symposium. A written version of the lecture shall be provided in a timely fashion for inclusion in the proceedings.

The ideal lecturer will emulate the outstanding research qualities and contributions to fire science of the person in whose honor the award is named. In particular, the committee will seek those of high repute who have combined technical excellence with practical and humanitarian application in the selection and execution of their research topics. A prime criterion is that the recipient’s contributions be widely recognized for their innovation and significance. The impact of the work shall be long-lasting, relevant for contemporary work, and inspiring for the on-going and future innovation. No restriction is made regarding the area of expertise within fire research.

About Professor Emmons

Professor Howard Emmons is considered by many to be “the father of modern fire science” for his contributions to the understanding of fire dynamics. While teaching at Harvard University from the 1940s until his death in 1998 at the age of 86, Emmons conducted pioneering studies of fire safety in buildings and documented how combustible materials interact and how fires spread and grow in phases. His measurements pushed the prediction of fire behavior into the world of precise mathematical modeling. Emmons pressed for reform ofU.S. building and fire codes based on scientific and engineering insight. Hisefforts led to early computer models of fire spread in buildings and U.S.congressional passage of the 1968 Fire Research and Safety Act.

Kunio Kawagoe Gold Medal – Nominations Due June 1, 2025

The Kunio Kawagoe Gold Medal is awarded by the IAFSS as a prestigious recognition of life-long contributions to and career achievements in fire science and engineering. The past recipients of the Kunio Kawagoe Gold Medal made significant and lasting contributions to fire science and engineering through innovation and impact of their publications. Their research findings frequently led to paradigm shifts in fire regulations, in fire standards and in practical applications of fire safety science and engineering around the world. Some past recipients trained research students and young fire safety engineers, produced important textbooks and monographs, and often dedicated themselves to fire safety education. They were active in the international fire safety community.

Nominations are sought from IAFSS members. Please submit nominations, including a justification and contact details of the proposer via e-mail: awards@iafss.org, by June 1, 2025. The justification should not exceed two pages in length and should describe the nominee’s accomplishments and their significance. Self-nominations are not accepted. A nominee may or may not be a member of IAFSS, while the proposer must be a member. Nominations are confidential and should not be disclosed to a nominee. The awardee will be contacted aroundAugust 1, 2025.

About Professor Kawagoe

Professor Kunio Kawagoe pioneered the development and use of scientifically based fire analysis, developing the relationship between the compartment burning rate and the size of an opening (Rb = 5.5•A•h0.5), in a seminal paper on compartment fire modelling published in 1958. His contributions, especially onfuel-controlled compartment fires and the structural analysis of the fire induced effects in columns and beams, laid foundation to modern fire science and engineering, and underpinned the early development of performance-based fire safety design, especially in Japan. Professor Kawagoe was the Director of the Building Research Institute between 1969 and 1973, when he was appointed Professor in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the Science University of Tokyo.

Proulx and Magnusson Early Career Awards – Nominations Due May 15, 2025

The Proulx and Magnusson Early Career Awards recognize meritorious achievement by members of the IAFSS who are early in their careers and have contributed a body of work that is of significance to any area of fire safety science. The two awards are distinguished by the period of time from completion of the candidates’ most recent educational degree. Each of the awards consists of a grant of US $4000, a plaque, and free registration to the Symposium. Each recipient will also deliver at the Symposium a review paper drawn from their body of work.

For the Proulx Award, candidates must be within five years from completion of their most recent degree at the time of nomination. The award commemorates Dr. Guylene Proulx (1960- 2009), an expert in human behavior in fire at National Research Council Canada, and IAFSS Board member at the time she passed away.

For the Magnusson Award, candidates must be within five to ten years from completion of their most recent degree at the time of nomination. The award commemorates Prof. Sven Erik Magnusson (1938-2014), pioneer of parametric fires and risk management at Lund University, Sweden, and a driving force in creating the first education curriculum for fire safety engineering.

Nominations must be made by an IAFSS member in good standing. Self-nominations will be considered too. A nominee may or may not be a member of IAFSS, while the proposer must be a member. The following documents should be submitted via e-mail: awards@iafss.org:

• Cover letter stating why the candidate is worthy of the award. This letter must also show that the candidate is eligible for the award based on the period of time from most recent degree. Letter must not exceed 2 pages.
• Curriculum Vitae of the candidate (excluding publication list).
• List of publications of the candidate. The list should be comprised of accepted journal articles and accepted conference publications. Publications submitted or in preparation or draft should not be listed.
• Recommendation letters, no more than two pages in length each, from two experts of international standing in the field. No more than two letters from experts will be accepted.

Nominations are due via e-mail: awards@iafss.org, by May 15, 2025. Awardees will be contacted around August 15, 2025. Each recipient will deliver at the Symposium a review paper drawn from his/her body of work. Each recipient will be asked to prepare a paper, as per submission guidelines of the Symposium. Papers will undergo peer review and if accepted will be presented during breakout sessions and included in the Symposium proceedings.

Best Thesis Award “Excellence in Research” – Nominations Due June 1, 2025

The IAFSS Best Thesis Award “Excellence in Research” recognizes the best research thesis atPhD and Masters levels, in all the fields related to fire safety science and engineering. There are three such Awards for the three IAFSS regions, Europe and Africa, Americas, as well as Asia and Oceania.

To be eligible for nomination, the nominee’s thesis must have been officially submitted to the university granting the degree for examination between December 1st, 2022 and May 31st, 2025, and nominated for the Award by the nominee’s supervisor, as described below.

Each recipient must deliver, at the 15th Symposium, a presentation including material from his/her thesis. While not required, the recipient will be strongly encouraged to prepare a paper, as per submission guidelines of the 15th Symposium, based on the material included in the thesis and/or further research, and not published in the Symposium or other peer reviewed archival publication.

The Award consists of a plaque, a grant of US $2,000 to cover travel and sustenance related to the recipient’s attendance at the 15th Symposium in La Rochelle, France and free registration for the Symposium.

The following documents need to be submitted via e-mail: awards@iafss.org, by midnight the 1st of June, 2025, UK time:

• A letter of recommendation by the nominee's supervisor not to exceed 2 pages;
• A pdf copy of the thesis (preferably in English; if not available, in its original language; however, a translated version for review is required);
• An abstract of the thesis in English (no longer than three pages);
• A list of publications. The list should comprise journal articles (including those that have been submitted for publication, whether accepted or not), and conference publications(indicating the form of review; no review, by Abstract, by full paper). Publications in preparation or draft should not be listed;
• Pdf preprints or reprints of up to three best papers derived from the nominee’s thesis(conference papers can be included) can be submitted but are not compulsory.
• If the thesis is not written in English, at least one paper in English shall be submitted.
• Submission subject to confidentiality requirements should be accompanied by an explanation from the supervisor indicating which sections of the thesis cannot be made public or submitted for review. The requirement for the recipient to deliver a presentation at the 15th Symposium cannot be waived; therefore, this explanation has to include a clear indication of which sections will be presented at the Symposium.

Selection of the awardees will be driven by four criteria: the pertinence, quality, significance, and impact of the work. Awardees will be contacted around August 30, 2025. Only one thesis can be submitted for award from a given University or Institution. When more than one thesis is of sufficient quality for submission for the Award, a preliminary selection must be carried out locally and the nominee's supervisor needs to explicitly describe in the letter of recommendation the local selection process. If more than one thesis is submitted by a single institution the nominators will be asked to withdraw the submissions voluntarily and explain the reasoning behind the selection.If more than one thesis remains submitted by June 15, 2025 (midnight, UK time) then none of the submissions from that institution will be considered.

Philip Thomas Medal of Excellence

The Philip Thomas Medal of Excellence is awarded to the author(s) of the best paper presented at a previous IAFSS Symposium. The award consists of a silver medal for the first author and a plaque for each author. The medal is cast from the reverse of a silver tetradrachma minted in Athens in 400 BC, at the time of Socrates and Plato. The central images are an olive spring, symbolizing peace, and an owl, symbolizing wisdom. The international synergism of ourAssociation is reflected in this Athenian design, suspended from a ribbon of Gosen white silk, presented in a medal box from the San Francisco mint. There is no nomination process, as theAward recognizes the best paper presented at the previous Symposium.

Dr Philip H Thomas

Dr Thomas worked in fire safety research at the Fire Research Station(subsequently part of the Building Research Establishment) for over thirty years, from the early 1950s to the mid 1980s. In that time he published numerous FireResearch Notes and over thirty journal papers on fire phenomena, many of which are still regularly cited today. Since retiring from the Fire Research Station in 1986 he has remained active in fire research and continues to publish in FireSafety Journal and elsewhere. The importance of his contributions to the field cannot be overstated. It was once said that he worked on almost every problem related to fire from spontaneous ignition to wild land fires and from statistical analyses to fire modelling. He was a convener of TC 92 in ISO and W14 for the CIB. He was the founding Chair of IAFSS. He worked at a time when journal publications were not so numerous, but his writing mostly contained in FireResearch Notes show his prolific nature and his boundless interests. A new fire researcher would be lacking not to have read the works of P H Thomas.

Dougal Drysdale Award for Extraordinary Service to the IAFSS

The IAFSS has many dedicated volunteers who contribute to the health and success of IAFSS.The Drysdale Award honors extraordinary service to IAFSS. The award is selected by the Chair of the IAFSS Committee and is presented at each IAFSS Symposium.

The award is named in honor of Dougal Drysdale, Professor Emeritus at theUniversity of Edinburgh for his many contributions to IAFSS and the fire safety science community. As the author of three editions of An Introduction to Fire Dynamics, the long-time editor of Fire Safety Journal, a section editor of the SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, a long-time member of the faculty of the University of Edinburgh, and as a member and chair of the IAFSS Committee, Dougal has provided technical, educational, and organizational leadership in our field over his long and productive career. In all his many contributions to our field, his generosity in helping others is always in evidence.

Sheldon Tieszen Student Awards Sponsored by the FORUM

These Awards are sponsored by the InternationalFORUM of Fire Research Directors, a group composed of the Directors of fire research organizations throughout the world, which aims to reduce the burden of fire (including the loss of life and property, and effects of fire on the environment and heritage) through international cooperation on fire research. The award recognizes excellence in an IAFSS symposium paper in fire safety science by a student making a significant contribution to that paper.

The IAFSS Awards Committee decides on the number of award recipients and the award’s selection criteria after the FORUM has decided on the allocation of funds for these awards. Each Sheldon Tieszen Student Award consists of a plaque and a cash payment to assist the recipient with symposium-related expenses toward their attendance at the IAFSS Symposium. For the recent symposia, the allocation of funds has been US$10,000 and the number of recipients has been eight, resulting in US$1,250 for each recipient.

To be eligible, a student needs to be enrolled in an academic course of study at the time the paper is submitted to the Symposium Program Committee. Recipients must present their papers at theSymposium. The student will normally be the first author on the paper accepted for presentation at the IAFSS Symposium.