Awards - INC of IAH

Indian National Chapter (INC) of International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH)

Announcement for submission of nomination of INC-IAH Award-2022

Closing Date: ~~20th of February, 2023 at 11.59 PM~~ (Extended to 27th February 2023 at 11.59 PM)

Nomination for INC-IAH Award 2022 is now open. All eligible individuals are invited to submit their applications under different categories. Please refer to the guidelines and, accordingly, submit the application within the deadline. We also encourage non-members with remarkable excellence and track records in the field of groundwater to also submit their nominations. An INC-IAH active member may also nominate the veteran for the Lifetime Achievement award.

Guidelines, Categories of Award and Application Form are available on the link given below

INC-IAH Award Guidelines & Application form
Application Form INC-IAH Lifetime Achievement Award
Application Form INC-IAH Groundwater Excellence Award
Application Form INC-IAH Young Scientist Award
Application Form INC-IAH Best Paper Award
Closing Date: 20th of February, 2023 at 11.59 PM

Standard Operating Procedure for INC-IAH Awards

Introduction

INC-IAH, which stands for Indian National Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, recognises the services, achievements, and academic excellences of its members in the form of their academic/scientific/ practicing career in groundwater domain, excellent work done for societal benefit and publications of the research work in the peer reviewed international and National journals. The esteemed members of INC-IAH are the scientists and Engineers working in groundwater domain and its cognate disciplines. In order to boost the scientific and academic activities and fervour, achievements, and publications in various fields of development and management of groundwater in India, INC-IAH intends to constitute various awards particularly for its members. It is envisaged that the awards to be given away annually as per the SOP approved by the INC IAH governing body. For the nomination of the INC-IAH awards, any groundwater professional must be a member of INC-IAH. He/she must has made outstanding contributions evidenced through recognisable practices and publications in the field of hydrogeology/ groundwater hydrology/ hydro geochemistry/hydro geophysics, Water well drilling technology, and in overall groundwater management for its sustainable use. in India.

Though the awards are meant for the members, non-members with extraordinary career and achievements in the domain of groundwater science and its practices may also apply and their cases will be duly considered when suitable candidates for the award of any particular category are not available from the INC-IAH members. In matter of publication the impact factor of the journal wherein the work is published, and its citation will be given due weightage.

The aim of this award is to provide continuous encouragement and motivation to the potential groundwater researchers and professionals. In order to identify most eligible awardee out of the received applications as also nominations for some special category, a standard Operation Procedure (SOP) with relevant guidelines is being framed which after the approval by the Governing body of INC IAH shall become effective. The guidelines hold the information on the eligibility criteria of the awards constituted by of the INC-IAH in the field of Hydrogeology/Groundwater hydrology and allied disciplines. The awards, to be given away by the INC- IAH are no way connected with the International Association of Hydrogeologists ,HQ. The processing of the awards will be strictly adhering to this new and maiden guideline of INC-IAH.

Award Schedule

Opening date:	The specific date to be announced and ventilated through email/WhatsApp to the members for each calendar year and the same will be uploaded in INC-IAH website for wider circulation.
Closing date and time:	17:00 PM on the specific date to be announced and ventilated through email/WhatsApp to the members for each calendar year and the same will be uploaded in the INC-IAH website.

Date of release of the guidelines:	26^th August, 2022
Enquiries:	In case of any query, please contact the Secretary, INC-IAH at amlanjkar@gmail.com or phone 9540686777

About the Award

The INC- IAH Award has been instituted by the Indian National Chapter (INC) of International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) as an instrument for the promotion, motivation, and recognition of the excellence in the domain of the science of the groundwater and its sustainable management.

The INC-IAH award is an open competitive annual program for the members of INC- IAH. However, non-members may also be considered for the award subject to the compliance of certain conditions as enumerated below.

Award & Sponsorship

The Award shall carry a citation, plaque, and prize money. The quantum of the prize money may vary from year to year depending upon the fund available with the INC IAH and received from the sponsors. INC-IAH will make necessary endeavour to accumulate the inhouse funds through various activities, advertisements as also from the sponsorship, so that the expenses pertaining to giving away the awards can be met. However, in case of non-availability of the fund in any particular year the cash amount may not be given. For this, the INC- IAH will sincerely pursue to find out the sponsors for the award so that the awardee may be felicitated with the prize money too besides the citation and memento.

To sponsor the awards, the sponsors need to sign a MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) to fund the award in the name of INC-IAH as per the criteria explained and defined in the SOP. In case the sponsor wants to fund the awards in the name of a recognised Hydrogeologist / Water Engineer / Professional/ Hydrologist or Allied Technologist, similarly a MOA is required to be signed by the Sponsoring authority and the INC-IAH, where the President, Secretary and the Treasurer will be the signatories so that the agreed amount will be kept in any bank decided amicably by the sponsor and INC-IAH, at least for a period of five years so that the annual award can run smoothly from its interest. The INC-IAH is in search of such sponsors which will be operative in due course.

In each year there will be four awards in the individual categories. Few additional INC-IAH award may also be given away from time to time subject to the availability of INC-IAH fund. Different category of

annual INC-IAH awards and their numbers are enumerated below. It is also to mention that if suitable candidates (at least three nos.) in different category could not be found as per the selection criteria, no award will be given away for that particular / those category in that year. However, the selection procedure for the Lifetime achievement award will be different from the other awards and described subsequently. The following awards will be given away annually.

Lifetime Achievement Award- One no
Groundwater Excellence Award – one no.
Young Scientist Award – one no.
Best Paper Award – two nos. (one for male and one for female)

Lifetime Achievement Award

Lifetime Achievement Award will be given away by the INC-IAH to recognize the outstanding contribution by the Senior groundwater scientists / technologists who have made significant contributions in the field of hydrogeology/ hydrology and the allied disciplines of groundwater.

The criteria for the award are as follows

Candidate should be a citizen of India,
He/she should preferably be a member of IAH in the years in which the nomination is being considered for the award. However, the other eminent and reputed non-members as Hydrogeologist/Hydrologist from academia as also from groundwater professional field may also be considered.
The nominee must be above 60 years of age as on the closing date of submission of nomination.
This award can only be received once.
Only the research and development work done on the Indian hydrogeology / groundwater hydrology by the eminent personalities shall be considered for the evaluation.

Nominee must have made significant contributions to the development and management of groundwater in India.
Nominee must have attained a consistent track record of significant and original basic and applied research contributions in the arena of groundwater and allied science and technology.
Nominee may possess an excellent record of publications in peer reviewed journal, valued Scientific reports for the Govt., Semi Government Institutions and NGOs, edited books, and patent in his/her credit. A detailed account /list of the aforesaid contribution should be attached with year of publication, Volume no, page nos, name of the national/international journal, publishing houses etc., patents name and year and the relevant documents in testimony may be provided.
The nomination can be submitted on the prescribed format through e-mail or any other online mechanism to be decided by the INC-IAH and it will be intimated during the announcement of the award.
At least five nominations besides one self-nomination for an individual need to be submitted for the award.
The norms and selection criteria of the Life time achievement award to honour the veteran workers will be different from the other category of awards.

Groundwater Excellence Award

The criteria for the Award are as follows

Candidate should be a citizen of India,
He/she should preferably be a member of IAH in the years in which nomination is being considered for the award. However, the non-members having excellent academic records, professional achievements and publication can also apply. Their candidature will be considered in case of non- availability of INC-IAH members as per the selection criteria. In case of publication, the publication in the journals with high impact factor and the citations will be given weightage.
The non-member applicant would be advised to become a member of the INC-IAH and the same need to be complied with by the candidate before the announcement / publication of the award by the INC-IAH. Such candidate would be required to submit a prior undertaking to continue his/her membership for at least three years
He/she should have acquired a post-graduate degree in Science or bachelor’s degree in engineering
The nominee must be above 40 years in age as on the closing date of submission of nomination.
He/she should have more than 15 years of working experience in the field of hydrogeology/ groundwater hydrology or allied science of groundwater, as on 1^st January of the award year. In case the candidate is having PhD degree then the experience should be counted excluding his/her duration spent for obtaining the doctoral degree (PhD).
Only the contributions towards Indian hydrogeology / groundwater hydrology or allied discipline including water well drilling technology shall be considered for the evaluation.
The applicant must possess an excellent record of publications in peer reviewed journal, valued Scientific reports for the Govt., Semi Government Institutions and NGOs, edited books, and patent in his/her credit. A detailed account /list of the aforesaid contribution should be attached with year of publication, Volume no, page nos, name of the national/international journal, publishing houses etc., patents name and year and the relevant documents in testimony of the publication, edited books and patents may be provided.
The nomination may be made by the self or through a member of INC-IAH
The nomination can be submitted on the prescribed format through designated e-mail or any other online mechanism to be decided by the INC-IAH and it will be intimated during the advertisement.

Young Scientist Award

The criteria for the Award are as follows

Candidate should be a citizen of India,
He/she should preferably be a member of IAH in the years in which nomination is being considered for the award. However, non-members having excellent records, achievements and publication can also apply. Their candidature will be considered in case of non-availability of INC-IAH members as per the selection criteria. In case of publication, the publication in journals with high impact factor and the citations will be given weightage.

The non-member applicant would be advised to become a member of the INC-IAH and the same need to be complied with by the candidate before the announcement / publication of the award by the INC-IAH. Such candidate would be required to submit a prior undertaking to continue his/her membership for at least three years.

He/she should have acquired a post-graduate degree in Science or bachelor’s degree in engineering
The nominee must be 40 years or below in age as on the closing date of submission of nomination
He/she should have more than 5 years of working experience in the field of hydrogeology/ groundwater hydrology or allied science/engineering , as on 1^st January of the award year. In case the candidate is having PhD degree then the experience should be counted excluding his/her duration spent for obtaining the doctoral degree (PhD).
Only the contributions towards Indian hydrogeology / groundwater shall be considered for evaluation.
The applicant may possess an excellent record of publications in peer reviewed journal, valued Scientific reports for the Govt., Semi Government Institutions and NGOs, edited books, and patent in his/her credit. A detailed account /list of the aforesaid contribution should be attached with year of publication, Volume no, page nos, name of the national/international journal, publishing houses etc., patents name and year and the relevant documents in testimony of the publication ,edited books and patents may be provided.
The nomination may be made by self or through a member of INC-IAH
The nomination can be submitted on the prescribed format through designated e-mail or any other online mechanism to be decided by the INC-IAH and it will be intimated during the advertisement.

Best Paper Award

The criteria for the Award are as follows

Nominees should be a citizen of India,
He/she should preferably be a member of IAH in the years in which nomination is being considered for the award. However, non-members having excellent records, professional achievements and publication can also apply. Their candidature will be considered in case of non-availability of INC- IAH members as per the selection criteria. In case of publication, the publication in journals with high impact factor and the citations will be given weightage.
The non-member applicant would be advised to become a member of the INC-IAH and the same need to be complied with by the candidate before the announcement / publication of the award by the INC-IAH. Such candidate would be required to submit a prior undertaking to continue his/her membership for at least three years
He/she should have a post-graduate degree in science or bachelor’s degree in engineering
Only the contributions towards Indian hydrogeology / groundwater shall be considered for evaluation.
A copy of the paper showing the date of receipt of the manuscript and its publication date online need to be provided.
The nomination may be made by self or through a member of INC-IAH
The nomination can be submitted on the prescribed format through designated e-mail or any other online mechanism to be decided by the INC-IAH and it will be intimated during the advertisement

Other eligibility criteria

Nomination will not be considered if:

The nominee does not satisfy all the eligibility criteria.
The nominee receives award from government/ scientific society for the same purpose.
The candidate is an INC-IAH past awardee in same category of award
The candidate is employed by a sponsoring organisation for the category of award for which he/she is applying for.
If the candidate is an immediate family member (e.g., a sibling or parent) who is employed by a sponsoring organisation
The candidate is an office bearer of INC-IAH except the Executive Committee members of Governing Body of INC-IAH.

The assessment criteria

Groundwater Excellence Award and Young Scientist Award

Applicant must give details of the educational qualification bachelor’s degree onwards. Their selection will be based on the following assessment criteria. The marks will be allotted as per their performance on each criterion as follows totaling a maximum of 50 marks.

Proficiency during education and qualification – 10 marks
Innovative scientific contribution – 10 marks
Publication in the peer reviewed International and National Journals with high impact factor and citations, edited books and patents -10 marks
Potential benefits to the society – 10 marks
360-degree feedback – 10 marks

Applicant will have to submit a write-up on his/her work limited to 250 words on the following criteria:

Innovative scientific contribution in the field of Hydrogeology / allied disciplines of groundwater science/groundwater hydrology/ water well drilling technology
Potential benefits to the society

Best paper award

Impact factor of the peer reviewed journal where the paper is published and citation – 10 marks
Scientific innovation and contribution to the field of: Hydrogeology/Groundwater hydrology/ allied discipline/water well drilling technology-10 marks
Quality of write up- 10 marks
Societal benefit from the work – 10 marks
360-degree feedback- 10 marks

INC-IAH juries will choose the applicants for the award chiefly on their merit and score. In this regard if a candidate scores 40% or less in any category will be considered unsuitable for the award and will be disqualified. In such cases even non-members also will be selected for the award.

At least three valid applicants selected as per the above cited criteria should be there for further continuation of the selection process in any category of award. In the event of nonavailability of three applicants, the award for that category will not be considered for that year’s award.

The selection process will be fully transparent and the scores of the selected candidates above cut-off grade in each category will be uploaded in the INC-IAH website.

The award selection process

Two-tier selection procedure will be in place. The initial screening to shortlist the qualifying applicants will be done by a committee of experts representing diverse disciplines. From the shortlisted applicants the awardees will be chosen by a high-level expert committee chaired by an eminent Scientist / Engineer.

Assessment of applications

INC-IAH will first review applications against the eligibility criteria and only eligible applications will be screened for the next stage.

In the next stage all eligible applications will be placed before the relevant expert panel for assessment according to the category of award the candidate has been nominated.

The expert panel will consider the application exclusively on its merits, based on:

How far it meets the assessment criteria
How it excels over the other applications
whether the work provides clear societal impact.

All eligible applications will be assessed against the assessment criteria and all criteria are weighted equally. Each criterion is scored out of ten marks totaling a maximum of 50 marks.

The rank of the applicants will be defined as per their total marks obtained .

Who will assess the applications?

Each expert panel, comprising experienced members from the academia, government Departments and industry , having wealth of experience , technical knowledge, awareness of current and emerging issues on groundwater and the subject matter will be the assessors. Each expert will assess the applications based upon the assessment criteria already enumerated.

In the first tier , each panelist will examine and assess the eligibility of the individual applications in view of its merit as per the assessment criteria for a preliminary score for shortlisting the candidates.

The final panel of Jury members will again re-examine the nomination of the shortlisted candidates. After this peer review, a final scoresheet will be prepared with the rank for the shortlisted candidates. In the website the score sheet of the shortlisted candidates will be uploaded. However, in the website, the scoresheet of all the other candidates also will be available to observe the transparency in the selection process.

The final expert panel will recommend their nominations to the INC-IAH for approving the award after its formal approval by the Executive committee(EC) of INC-IAH

Who is the approving authority of INC-IAH award?

The Governing body or Executive committee (EC) of INC-IAH is the final decision maker and approves the award after its recommendation by the final jury members.

The decision of Governing body/EC of INC-IAH will be final in all the matters related to the INC- IAH award.
Once the recommendation is made and it is approved by the EC, no further objection on the selected candidate by any member will be granted .