IMO Prize Guidelines and Nomination Procedures

The IMO Prize includes:

  • A 14-carat gold medal 57 mm in diameter. It bears on one side the official WMO emblem and on the other side the Latin inscription Pro singulari erga scientiam meteorologicam merito
  • A monetary award of 10 000 Swiss francs
  • A parchment scroll

Guidelines

Initially, the IMO Prize was granted in recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of meteorology. However, when the WMO mandate came to include operational hydrology in 1971, the range of IMO Prize expanded to include hydrology. Today, the IMO Prize covers any other field referred to in Article 2 of the WMO Convention.

Candidates for the IMO prize must be living persons; however, the award may be made posthumously to a candidate who dies between the date of his nomination and that of the awarding of the Prize.

Members of the Executive Council, as electors, are not eligible for the award during their term(s) of office.

Nomination procedure

Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Missions of Member State with WMO or Permanent Representatives of Member State/Territory with WMO are invited to nominate candidates for the IMO Prize. The nominations should be communicated to the Secretary-General by email to IMOPrize_nominationsatwmo [dot] int (IMOPrize_nominations[at]wmo[dot]int), for transmission to the Selection Committee of the Executive Council.

The nomination must include:

  1. A Nomination Form signed by either the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Mission or Permanent Representative. Nomination must include name, professional and home mailing address, present professional title and institutional affiliation.
  2. A precise and factual summary of accomplishments that provides a brief statement (1-2 pages) of the individual's achievements in the fields relevant to the Prize with a focus on the most recent five years, in at least one of the following: (i) advancing weather, climate and water science and/or it application to society; (ii) leadership of the International weather, climate and water community, with a particular emphasis on furthering the purpose of WMO; communicating weather, climate and water science and/or increasing public engagement in the field of weather, climate and water science and its application.. The summary of accomplishments should be in MS Word format, and follow the template.
  3. The nominee's curriculum vitae or resumé.
  4. A list of the nominee's publications.
  5. Two five-minute video presentations by the nominee and the Permanent Representative.

A candidature received after the deadline (one month prior to the opening of the Executive Council session) shall not be considered at that session, but shall be taken into consideration for all subsequent IMO Prizes to be awarded during the current four-year financial period, as will all candidates submitted but not chosen for the award during that financial period.

Find out more: Indication of preference for the designation of acting members of the council and the award of the IMO Prize (PDF)