To recognise excellence in student research as well as promote awareness of our field, as an innovation at CLiC-it 2017, and with the endorsement of AILC, we are introducing a prize for the best Master Thesis (Laurea Magistrale) in Computational Linguistics submitted at an Italian University. The prize consists of 500 euro plus free membership to AILC for one year and free registration to the upcoming CLiC-it, where the author will have the chance to present their thesis.
MA theses submitted to and defended at any University in Italy within the yearly time frame specified in the call (see below) are eligible for the prize. The thesis should address a topic in computational linguistics or its applications, and may be written in Italian or English. The sub-areas involved are those listed in the yearly call for papers of the Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics (CLiC-it).

The candidates’ works will be evaluated by a jury composed by three members: one of the co-chairs of the previous CLiC-it conference, one co-chair of the current CLiC-it conference (who agrees to serve for two years, so as to ensure continuity), and a member of the board of AILC.  The jury will decide in consensus to which candidate the prize will be awarded. The jury can also decide not to award a prize or to award the prize to a maximum of two candidates. In the latter case, the money prize will be shared.

Please note that the time frame for 2017 is wider because the prize is at its first edition. For the 2018 prize, the theses will have to fall in the window August 1st 2017 – July 31st 2018. The 2018 pattern will also be adopted for the following years.

Procedure for 2017:

  • The 2017 thesis prize jury consists of Anna Corazza (CLiC-it 2016 co-chair), Malvina Nissim (CLiC-it 2017 co-chair), and Felice Dell’Orletta (AILC board member).
  • MA theses defended between January 1st 2016 and July 31st 2017 are eligible for the 2017 prize.
  • The supervisor of the thesis submits the thesis by September 15, 2017 with a motivation (1 page) why the thesis deserves the prize.
  • The thesis (in pdf) and the letter (in pdf) must be uploaded by the deadline via Easychair (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=clicit2017), specifying “AILC Master Thesis Prize” as track.
  • The jury will evaluate the submitted theses and provide a motivated decision before CLiC-it 2017, by November 15th.
  • The prize will be awarded by a member of the Jury during CLiC-it 2017.
  • The thesis must be available on-line, and will be presented during CLiC-it 2017 by the author.

Stay tuned for any updates.