Accelerator prizes
2026 European Physical Society Accelerator Awards
The European Physical Society Accelerator Group (EPS-AG) has offered to sponsor four awards on the occasion of the 17th International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC’26).
The EPS-AG/IPAC’26 Accelerator Prizes are for individuals who have made outstanding contributions to accelerator science and technology and are committed to its peaceful use and collaboration. The Prizes have no restriction as to nationality.
The Rolf Wideroe Prize
The Rolf Wideroe Prize is awarded every third year to recognize outstanding work in the field of accelerator physics. There are no age limit for this prize. The winner will receive an engraved medal, and make an oral presentation during the Accelerator Prizes Special Session during IPAC’26.
Elena Shaposhnikova
The 2026 Rolf Wideröe Prize of the Accelerator Group in the European Physical Society (EPS-AG), for “outstanding work in the accelerator field without age limit”, is awarded to Dr. Elena Shaposhnikova of CERN for her numerous original contributions to RF systems and longitudinal beam dynamics and her development of impedance identification techniques. Her solutions enabled the successful demonstration of beyond-design beam brightness in the LHC and its injectors, demonstrating the HL-LHC beam parameters. Dr. Shaposhnikova has a strong commitment to the training of a young generation of accelerator physicists and engineers. Her decades long career has enabled high performance in the LHC and in fixed target experiments for many thousands of users, setting a path for the RF concepts in the next generation of collider designs.
The Gersh Budker Prize
The Gersh Budker Prize is awarded for a recent, significant contribution to the field of accelerator physics. There are no age limit for this prize. The winner will receive an engraved medal, and make an oral presentation during the Accelerator Prizes Special Session during IPAC’26.
Wentao Wang
The 2026 Gersh Budker Prize of the Accelerator Group in the European Physical Society (EPS-AG), for “a recent significant, original contribution to the accelerator field, with no age limit”, is awarded to Prof. Wentao Wang of the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics for his groundbreaking achievements in laser-plasma acceleration, including the development of high-brightness electron beams and the world-wide first experimental demonstration of free-electron lasing driven by a laser plasma generated beam, which together pave the way for compact electron accelerators and radiation sources.
Frank Sacherer Prize
The Frank Sacherer Prize is awarded to an individual in the early part of his or her career, having made a recent significant, original contribution to the field of accelerator physics. The winner will receive a framed certificate, and a cash prize of 2.000 EUR, and will also make an oral presentation during the Accelerator Prizes Special Session during IPAC’26.
Patrick Rauer
The 2026 Frank Sacherer Prize of the Accelerator Group in the European Physical Society (EPS-AG), for “an individual in the early part of his or her career, having made a recent significant, original contribution to the accelerator field”, is awarded to Dr. Patrick Rauer of DESY for his leadership of the world-wide first experimental demonstration of a cavity-based XFEL at the European XFEL, including the development of new simulation tools for more precise predictions of the behavior of cavity-based XFELs.
Bruno Touschek Prize
The Bruno Touschek Prize is awarded to a student for the quality of work and promise for the future. The candidate has to be registered for a PhD or diploma in accelerator physics or engineering or to a trainee accelerator physicist or engineer in the educational phase of their professional career. Applicants will be judged on the quality of the work submitted to the IPAC’26 conference. The winner will receive a framed certificate, and a cash prize of 1.000 Euros and will have the opportunity to make a short oral presentation during the Accelerator Prizes Special Session during IPAC’26.
Andrea Frazzitta
The 2026 Bruno Touschek Prize of the Accelerator Group in the European Physical Society (EPS-AG), presented to a student or to a trainee in the educational phase of their professional career for the quality of work and promise for the future, is awarded to Dr. Andrea Frazzitta from Sapienza University of Rome & PSI for his original and high-quality PhD work and invention of the Plasma Discharge Undulator, a novel concept for plasma-based radiation sources. His work combines strong physical insight with technical maturity, opening new perspectives for compact, high-brightness light sources and demonstrating outstanding promise for applications in accelerator science.
For more information about the prizes you can find them on the web site of EPS-Accelerator group
Information about the prizes
The EPS-AG Accelerator Prizes Selection Committee chaired by Ralph Assmann, GSI, decided the winners for prizes 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the basis of preliminary proposals and formal nominations.
Information concerning past recipients of the EPS-AG Accelerator Prizes may be found at the EPS-AG website.
Questions and nominations to be addressed to IPAC’26 Scientific Secretariat scientific.secretariat@ipac26.org
Best Student Poster awards - Get ready to show your rising talent
An additional prize will be awarded to The Best Student Posters at IPAC’26! This prestigious award will recognize two outstanding students who present their work during the dedicated student poster session on Sunday, May 17, 2026.
The winners will be officially announced at the Accelerator Prizes Special Session during IPAC’26. Each winner will receive a cash prize of 500 EUR.
A distinguished jury, composed of recognized experts in the field, will be nominated to evaluate the student presentations and select the prize winners. We encourage all eligible students to participate in this opportunity to showcase their research and be acknowledged for their contributions to the field.