Early Career Award for Soft Matter Research
The Early Career Award for Soft Matter Research recognizes outstanding and sustained contributions by an early-career researcher to the soft matter field. The award provides $5000 and the cost of travel to the APS March meeting.
Rules and eligibility
Soft matter researchers with at most 12 years of full time activity after their PhD as of the nomination deadline, allowing for career breaks (e.g., due to child or dependent care, illness, military service, etc.), are eligible. The nomination package must explicitly state the date that the nominee obtained their PhD, and any career breaks. The award is open to researchers from all disciplines that contribute to the advancement of soft matter research. Ordinarily the prize will be awarded to a single individual. The research recognized could either be a single piece of work, or the sum of contributions. Should the nominee already have an APS Award or Prize, then the DSOFT Award must be based on clearly described and entirely different (or at the very least substantial further) work than that recognized in the earlier Award or Prize.
Process and selection
Any APS member (not a member of the committee making the selection) may submit one nomination or seconding letter for each prize or award in any given year. A nomination should include:
- A letter (of no more than three pages) from the nominator evaluating the nominee's qualifications, identifying the specific contributions to be recognized.
- A two-page biographical sketch
- A list of (up to 20 of) the most important publications
- At least two, but not more than four, seconding letters
Selection Committee
- Corentin Coulais
- Lilian Hsiao
- M Lisa Manning
- Scott Waitukaitis
- Emanuela Del Gado
Establishment and support
The award was established in 2015 and was generously sponsored by Solvay through 2020; it is now sponsored by the Division of Soft Matter.
Recent recipients
Scott Waitukaitis
2026 recipient
For resolving the core mystery of contact electrification and consistently bringing clarity and rigor to complex problems in soft matter through elegant and thoughtful experiments.
Lilian Hsiao
2025 recipient
For using in-situ confocal rheometry to identify microscale structure-property physics of anisotropic colloids during shear flow, and for applying self-assembly principles and scaling relations to address knowledge gaps in the friction of soft materials.
Corentin Coulais
2024 recipient
For pioneering research into soft matter-based metamaterials with on-demand mechanical properties.
Pierre-Thomas Brun
2023 recipient
For creative and groundbreaking contributions in developing soft functional materials using mechanical and hydrodynamic instabilities, elasticity, and flow, from bubble casting for soft robotics to pendant drops coated on the underside of a substrate.
Nikta Fakhri
2022 recipient
For groundbreaking and inspiring developments in probing and analyzing biological systems as emergent non-equilibrium systems, elucidating how molecular-scale processes form cooperative functional structures at cellular and organismal scales.
APS Honors recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of the global physics community. Guided by our core values, APS Honors encourages nominations that reflect the full range of talent, distinction, and experience in our field, and supports broad canvassing for professional achievement across diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and expertise.
Nominees for and holders of APS Honors (prizes, awards, and fellowship) and official leadership positions are expected to meet standards of professional conduct and integrity as described in the APS Ethics Standards. Violations of these standards may disqualify people from consideration or lead to revocation of honors or removal from office.
Early Career Award for Soft Matter Research
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As approved by the Council of Representatives on April 10, 2025.
APS honors exceptional contributions to the physics community, including travel support for students and early career physicists.