Awards

Every year the Swiss Geological Society presents the following prizes:

• The Paul Niggli Medal
• The Amanz Gressly Prize
• A cash prize of CHF 3000 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 recipient of the Paul Niggli Medal for the year 2024 is awarded to Dawid Szymanowski (ETH Zürich) in recognition of his outstanding research using high-precision geochronology, geochemistry and petrology to understand the processes leading to giant volcanic eruptions and ore deposits. The award ceremony will place at the SGM meeting 2024 in Basel.

The recipient of the Paul Niggli Medal for the year 2023 is Christian Renggli (Universität Münster). He received the medal at the Swiss Geoscience Meeting in Mendrisio. The citation from Prof. Stephan Klemme (Universität Münster) and the response of the awardee was published in the Swiss Journal of Geosciences.

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 2022 Best MSc Thesis Award from the Swiss Geological Society is Kim Lemke from the University Bern, now at the University of Lausanne for the work: “Ophiolitic Relicts in the Cima-Lunga Unit and Adula Nappe (Central Alps): Timing the Transition from High-Pressure Melting to Amphibolite Facies”. Kim studied high-grade metamorphic rocks from the Central Alps, focussing on Petrography and Petrology combined with trace element geochemistry and particularly dating of metamorphic zircon and rutile. The Jury was particularly impressed by the data-rich thesis of Kim.

The 2021 Best MSc thesis award was given to Markus Rast (ETH Zürich) for the thesis: "Geology, geochronology and rock magnetics along Bedretto tunnel (Gotthard Massif, Central Alps) and numerical modelling of quartz-biotite aggregates". The thesis involved fieldwork in the BedrettoLab tunnel, investigating the magnetism of quartz-biotite shear zones, detailed structural analyses and modelling, as well as zircon dating from the shear zones and the host granit. The Jury was particularly impressed by the large range of topics that were covered by the thesis. Markus Rast successfully related all different research directions of to a well-rounded thesis that truly helps understanding the thermal, temporal and tectonic evolution of the Gotthard massif in the context of the Alpine orogeny. The award ceremony took place during the 2021 virtual SGM meeting in Geneva.