PSIPW 12

The Selection Committee is the final stage of the PSIPW evaluation process. It is invoked when the three referees, acting independently, identify a different nominee as the recipient of the award.

Your task is to work with other Selection Committee members to come to a joint recommendation on who the recipient should be from among the three finalists.

Ready to Begin?

Please log in to access the nominated works and referee reports.

Login to Evaluation Portal

Selection Committee Procedure

Step 1: Review Materials
  • You must review the nominated works for each finalist.
  • You must carefully read the referee reports for each nomination (there are three referee reports per nomination).

Step 2: Initial Recommendation
After reviewing, provide via email a brief initial recommendation as to who you think the recipient should be, stating your reason for your decision. Please do this as soon as possible.

Step 3: The Discussion Process
I will place your response together with those of your two colleagues on the Selection Committee into a single document and send it out to the three of you. This will kick off the discussion:

  • You will respond to these initial recommendations.
  • I will add your responses to the transcript and email it back to you.
  • I will continue to add your comments into a continuously updated transcript sent to all members.

In this way, the dialogue between all of us will be kept up to date and well documented.

The Final Decision

Once you and your fellow Selection Committee members arrive at a joint decision, you will need to draft a single recommendation letter to the PSIPW Prize Council.

This letter must:

  • Identify the winner.
  • Explain in detail the reasons for your decision.
  • Describe how the body of winning work forms a coherent and innovative contribution.
Submission Requirement: You and your fellow committee members will each submit an identical, signed PDF copy of this letter on your own letterhead.

DEADLINE: 22 May 2026

If you have any questions or concerns for me, please write to me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Overview

The Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) is an international award focusing on water-related scientific innovation and judged by leading scientists from around the world. Five prizes are bestowed every two years.

Specialized Prizes

Each of the four specialized prizes is worth US$ 130,000. Individual researchers and research teams nominate themselves for these prizes:

surfacewaterlong groundwaterlong alternativelong managproteclong

The Surface Water Prize coves every aspect of the study and development of surface water resources. The Groundwater Prize awards work related to all aspects of the study and development of groundwater resources. The Alternative Water Resources Prize covers desalination, waste water treatment, and other non-traditional sources of water. The Water Management & Protection Prize addresses the use, management, and protection of water resources.

Creativity Prize

Worth US$ 260,000, the Creativity Prize is awarded exclusively to research teams for cutting-edge interdisciplinary scientific work that can rightly be considered a breakthrough in any water-related field. The work might be a body of research, an invention, or a new patented technology. It is by nomination only. Universities, university departments, research institutes, companies, and agencies can nominate interdisciplinary teams for this Prize.

creativitylong

Each prize is accompanied by a distinctive trophy and certificate.

 

Creativity Prize
Value :

$260,000
Nominators: universities; university
departments; research
institutes; companies; water
organizations and agencies
Candidates :

interdisciplinary research teams
Eligible Works: published research papers,
published books, published software and registered patents within the
past 5 years

Specialized Prizes
Value :

$130,000 (each prize)
Nominators: self nomination
Candidates : individual researchers,
research teams
Eligible Works: published research papers,
published books, published software and registered patents within the
past 5 years

Prize Topics

PSIPW awards five Prizes: a Creativity Prize and four Specialized Prizes.

Each of the four Specialized Prizes is dedicated to the wide range of research topics that fall within its scope. In past awards, specific topics were chosen for each prize. Nominations are open to all innovative and current research that is relevant to one of the four prizes, which together cover the entire water research landscape.

Some of the many topics that are relevant to each Prize are as follows:

Surface Water Prize

Groundwater Prize
Water Harvesting
Rain & Runoff Water Modeling
Effects of Global Warming on Precipitation
Flood Mitigation & Control
Evaporation & Transpiration
Sedimentation Control in Surface Water Systems

And all other topics related to surface water

Groundwater Recharge
Groundwater Exploration & Assessment
Groundwater Contamination
Aquifer CharacteristicsPumping Tests
Pumping Tests


And all other topics related to groundwater

Alternative Water Resources Prize

Water Management & Protection Prize
Desalination
Wastewater Treatment
Water Reclamation, Purification & Recycling
Innovative Water Production Methods
Cloud Seeding
Fog & Dew

And all other topics related to alternative water
resources

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
Water Conservation
Water Demand Management
Water Pollution Control
Sustainability of Water Resources
Irrigation Water Management & Conservation

And all other topics related to the management and
protection of water resources

 

Creativity Prize

The Creativity Prize is open to pioneering and innovative interdisciplinary team-based research in any water-related field. The work should provide an original solution which is useful to society and contribute to development and social upliftment, while being practical, environmentally friendly , and cost-effective.

 

PSIPW welcomes nominations for all of its prizes that employ GIS, remote sensing, and other current technologies to provide innovative solutions to water-related problems.

Evaluation

Nominations are evaluated to determine their originality, potential impact, and applicability. Special consideration is given to how the nominated work contributes to its field of research and its usefulness to society, particularly with respect to development and solving problems on an international level.

evaluation

Three committees are dedicated to the evaluation of nominations for each of the five prizes:

  1. Preliminary Screening Committee
  2. Referee Committee
  3. Selection Committee


PSIPW enlists the participation of leading scientists from around the world to act as judges on these committees.

General Conditions

  1. All nominations are made online through an electronic application form that is available on the PSIPW website. All required documentation and submitted works will be uploaded by way of the same form. No mail-in applications will be accepted.
  2. In the event that a team of individuals are being nominated, all team members must be named at the time of application and one member must be specified as their representative. Groups of people working on the same project may not be nominated separately. They must be nominated as a group with a single nomination form.
  3. The nominee must be an individual (Specialized Prizes only) or a research team (Specialized Prizes and Creativity Prize). A university, institution, or government agency is not eligible to be a nominee. 
  4. Nominations for the Specialized Prizes are by direct self-nomination. Nominations for the Creativity Prize must be made by a university, institution, or government agency on behalf of the nominated team of researchers. Individuals may not nominate themselves or others for the Creativity Prize. 
  5. The work or works being considered for the nomination must have been completed no more than five (5) years prior to the nomination deadline for the current Prize.
  6. Published research papers, published books, published software and registered patents may be submitted for consideration. Unpublished works and unregistered patents are ineligible for the Prize.
  7. No more than five (5) distinct works may be submitted. Multiple works should not be collected together and submitted as a single work.
  8. Works will be reviewed and judged in English. If the work being nominated was originally published in a language other than English, it must be submitted in the original language accompanied by a full translation or by a translation of the parts of the work that are to be considered for the Prize. If a partial English translation is provided for a work submitted in another language, then only that portion of the work which is translated will be considered for assessment.
  9. A nominee can only be nominated for one of the five Prizes during the same award.
  10. The work being nominated must not have previously been a recipient of any other international prize. (However, it may have been the recipient of local or regional prizes.)
  11. Members of the Prize committees and their immediate relatives may not be nominated for the Prize.

Prize Calendar

11th calendar

  1. 15 January 2024: Call for nominations to the Prize and opening of the online application form for the 12th award.
  2. 31 December 2025: Deadline for receiving nominations.
  3. January-August 2026: The evaluation process.
  4. October 2026: The Prize Council announces the winners of the 12th Award and calls for nominations to the 13th award.
  5. November 2026: The awards ceremony for the 12th Award.