EMS Technology Achievement Award

The European Meteorological Society (EMS) seeks to recognise achievements that are influential on developments of technologies and technical solutions in meteorology and related areas, have advanced the methods and technologies of environmental observing and forecasting systems and demonstrated the potential to impact on the field at the European scale. Thus the EMS launched The EMS Technology Achievement Award in 2015.

 

  • The EMS Technology Achievement Award is normally awarded annually. A call for nominations is issued in autumn each year and the award presented at the EMS Annual Meeting in the following year.
  • The Award is given in the form of a certificate.
  • The requirements and procedures for the award include the possibility of self-nomination.
The EMS Technology Achievement Award 2026 was presented to  Windy.com

Windy.com is an all-in-one weather app for those who make crucial weather-related decisions. The app provides in-depth weather insights for the whole world. It stands out in the meteorological sector for transforming complex weather data into easily understandable formats.

The Award was presented to the Windy team at the Awards Session during the EMS Annual Meeting 2026 in Utrecht. The recording of the Award Lecture “Windy Cannot Replace Meteorological Services — But It Can Help Explain Why They Matter” by David Polášek is available on the EMS Vimeo channel.
To find out more about Windy.com see the news release.

The Call for nominations for the TAA2027 is now open.

Call for nominations 2027: submit by 10 Dec (short proposal) and 31 Jan 2027

Optional deadline for short proposals: 10 December 2026
Final Deadline for submission of full proposals: 31 January 2027

1. Objective of the award

The EMS Technology Achievement Award is granted to individuals or corporations in recognition of technological contributions associated with instrumentation and methodologies used in meteorology and related sciences (e.g. oceanography, atmospheric chemistry and hydrology) and their applications that have the potential for Europe-wide impact.
Such developments could include

  • Instrumentation,
  • Observing systems and measurements,
  • Data management and ICT Infrastructure: data acquisition, data handling, data analysis techniques, and algorithms,
  • Information systems along with technological developments underpinning forecasting methods and validation/verification techniques.

2. The Award

The EMS Technology Achievement Award is awarded in the form of a certificate presented to the recipient during the award ceremony of the EMS Annual Meeting 05-10 September 2027, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.

 3. Eligibility and nomination for the award

The award is granted to individuals, groups of individuals or organisations. Organisations are understood in a broad sense, including companies, institutions, associations, international organisations and projects.
EMS Member Societies and EMS Associate Members and their respective members or staff are eligible to make nominations for the EMS Technology Achievement Award.
Individuals, groups of individuals or organisations are also eligible to submit a self-nomination for the EMS Technology Achievement Award, under the same conditions, explained in paragraph 4.

4. Nominations

Submission is encouraged in two stages:

(1) 10 December 2026, 12:00 CET: Nominators are invited to submit an outline of the proposal by 10 December 2026. The outline proposal should present the key achievements in the form of an abstract (one A4 page maximum). The Selection Committee will provide a preliminary assessment of the proposal and guidance for the full submission to the nominators at the latest by Wednesday 13 January 2027.
This preliminary stage is optional and not a pre-requisite for the submission of the full proposal.

(2) 31 January 2027, 12:00 CET: The full proposal has to be submitted by 31 January 2027 and must include the following documents:

  • A Description of key achievements, explaining the new aspects and innovation of an achievement and highlighting any significant practical achievement and experiences with the technological solution.
    Any significant papers, posters, books, patents related to the achievement or other information which explains the exclusivity of the technological solution should also be included.
  • Curriculum vitae and/or profile of the organisation, corporate body or individual, not more than three A4 pages:
    –> The Curriculum vitae (in case of an individual) should contain the background of the Nominee and an overview of career, publications and other relevant information.
    –> The profile (in case of an organisation or corporate body) should contain background information about the corporate body as well as background information about the persons or teams involved.
  • Two supporting letters up to two A4 pages. More than three letters of support will not be considered.
  • A proposal for an award citation of 25 words or less (i.e. a formal statement of the achievements of the person or group receiving the award to be used in all publications and on the certificate).

All documents and communications must be in English. Documents must be provided digitally in pdf format.
All documentation must be submitted before the closing date to the following e-mail address: awardapplication@emetsoc.org.
The deadline for the submission of the full proposal for the EMS Technology Achievement Award 2027 is
31 January 2027 at 12:00 CET.

5. The selection process

A Selection Committee established by the EMS Council will evaluate the nominations and make a recommendation to the EMS Council. The final selection of an awardee is the task of the EMS Council.

Non-selected nominations will be forwarded once to be considered again for the award in the following year. The documentation provided may be updated for the next call for proposals.

6. Presentation of the Award

Following the decision of the EMS Council, the winning organisation, corporate body or individual will be informed in due time in order to take part at the awards ceremony at the EMS Annual Meeting 2026. The name of the winner will be made public to the media and in EMS publications.

Terms of reference

1. Objective of the award

The EMS Technology Achievement Award is granted to individuals or corporations in recognition of technological contributions associated with instrumentation and methodologies used in meteorology and related sciences (e.g. oceanography, atmospheric chemistry and hydrology) and their applications that have the potential for Europe-wide impact.
Such developments could include

  • Instrumentation,
  • Observing systems and measurements,
  • Data management and ICT Infrastructure: data acquisition, data handling, data analysis techniques, and algorithms,
  • Information systems along with technological developments underpinning forecasting methods and validation/verification techniques.

2. The Award

The EMS Technology Achievement Award is awarded in the form of a certificate presented to the recipient during the award ceremony of the EMS Annual Meeting.
Depending on the type of nominations received, two Awards may be given: One Award for small organisations/projects; this is understood normally to be a group of up to 5 people. And one Award for large projects; this is understood to normally be a project of an institute, company, any other organisation or a project consortium.

3. Eligibility and nomination for the award

The award is granted to individuals, groups of individuals or organisations. Organisations are understood in a broad sense, including companies, institutions, associations, international organisations and projects.
EMS Member Societies and EMS Associate Members and their respective members or staff are eligible to make nominations for the EMS Technology Achievement Award.
Individuals, groups of individuals or organisations are also eligible to submit a self-nomination for the EMS Technology Achievement Award, under the same conditions, explained in paragraph 4.

4. Nominations

A call for nominations is issued each year in autumn, with a submission deadline in January.

Submission is encouraged in two stages: Nominators are invited to submit an outline of the proposal until a deadline in late autumn. The outline proposal should present the key achievements in the form of an abstract (max 1 A4 page). The Selection Committee will provide a preliminary assessment of the proposal and guidance for the full submission to the nominators within 6 weeks. This stage is optional and not a pre-requisite for the submission of the full proposal.

In order to make a nomination the following documents need to be submitted:

A Description of key achievements, explaining the new aspects and innovation of an achievement, as well as any principle practical achievement and experiences with the technological solution.
Any principle papers, posters, books, patents related to the achievement or other information which explains the exclusivity of the technological solution should also be included.

Curriculum vitae and/or profile of the organisation, corporate body or individual, not more than three A4 pages:

  • The Curriculum vitae (in case of an individual) should contain the background of the Nominee and an overview of career, publications and other relevant information.
  • The profile (in case of an organisation or corporate body) should contain background information about the corporate body as well as background information about the persons or teams involved.

Two supporting letters up to two A4 pages. More than three letters of support will not be considered.

A Citation of 25 words or less.

All documents and communications must be in English. Documents must be provided digitally in pdf format.

5. The selection process

A Selection Committee established by the EMS Council will of evaluate the nominations and make a recommendation to the EMS Council. The final selection of awardees is the task of the EMS Council.

Non-selected nominations will be forwarded once to be considered again for the award in the following year. The documentation provided may be updated for the next call for proposals.

6. Presentation of the Award

Following the decision of the EMS Council, the winning organisation, corporate body or individual will be informed in due time in order to take part at the awards ceremony at the EMS Annual Meeting. The name of the winner will be made public to the media and in EMS publications.