Awards

Every year the Swiss Geological Society presents the following prizes:

• The Paul Niggli Medal
• The Amanz Gressly Prize
• A cash prize of CHF 1000 for the best MSc thesis at a Swiss institution
• Travel and conference awards to attend national and international conferences
• The Oswald Heer-Preis (2017)

Paul Niggli Medal

The Paul Niggli Medal for the year 2025 is awarded to Lisa Eberhard (Utrecht University) in recognition of her novel, rigorous and versatile approach to quantifying fluid-mediated mass and redox budget transfer within subduction zones.

Prize "Amanz Gressly" (SPS)

During the General Assembly, the Swiss Palaeontological Society honours the major contribution of a person in the field of palaeontology with the prize "Amanz Gressly". The 2023 Amanz Gressly Award goes to Ursina Bachmann.

Best MSc thesis award

The winner of the 2024 Best MSc Thesis Award from the Swiss Geological Society is Philip Hartmeier from the University of Bern for the work: “Machine learning thermobarometry in metamorphic petrology: Calibration strategy and application to biotite”. The committee was impressed by the linking of advanced computational methods such as machine learning using a neural network, with large data sets of mineral chemistry of biotite and metamorphic petrology to pave a new way to perform thermobarometry in metamorphic rocks. The work was conducted under the supervision of Prof. Pierre Lanari and Dr. Jacob Forshaw. Philip has provided a working thermometer for single minerals. He selected the mineral target (biotite), independently optimized the training strategy by incorporating transfer learning, and independently developed the testing strategy. The approach proposed by Philip is innovative and will have a major impact on the community as it can be applied to other minerals. The study shows that neural networks with transfer learning can have wide applications to solve problems in petrology.

The winner of the 2023 Best MSc Thesis Award from the Swiss Geological Society is Jonathan Pople from the University of Lausanne for the work: “Epibionts and trace fossils on stem- and crown-group euarthropod carapaces from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Shale”. The committee was impressed with the comprehensive and modern approach to this topic the exceptional graphic display and the wider implications for the evolution of life.