1. Call. The IEEE Spain Signal Processing and Communications Joint Chapter (SPCOM) announces a call for two awards:

• • Award for the Best Master’s Thesis (TFM).
  • Award for the Best Doctoral Thesis (PhD).

for works aligned with the disciplines of the IEEE Signal Processing Society and IEEE Communications Society (SPCOM).

2. Award. The awardees will receive free registration for the IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning for Communication and Networking 2025 (IEEE ICMLCN 2025), together to a travel grant of 250€ to cover accommodation and travel expenses to attend the conference. At this event, they will receive a certificate for the achieved award. The IEEE ICMLCN 2025 conference will take place in Barcelona from May 26 to 29, 2025.
3. Eligible Candidates. Submissions for these awards are open to any TFM or PhD defended in 2023 and 2024, conducted by a member of the SPCOM chapter at the closing date of the call. Eligible candidates include IEEE members in Spain who are also members of the IEEE Signal Processing Society or the IEEE Communications Society. Affiliated members of one of these two societies at the closing date (even if not IEEE members) are also eligible. More information on becoming a member can be found at: https://spain.chapters.comsoc.org/join
   The submitted works cannot have been previously awarded by this chapter or by other IEEE organizational units (societies, regions, sections, chapters, etc.).
4. Required Documentation. Submissions can be in Spanish, any co-official languages in Spain, or English. Candidates should email the Vice-President of the IEEE SPCOM Chapter (ramonsanchez@ieee.org) with the following information in the email:

• • Candidate’s information:
    • Full name.
    • Email.
    • Contact phone number.
    • IEEE member number (or affiliate number).
    • Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (CVA or similar).

• • Information about the submitted work:
    • Award category: TFM or PhD.
    • PDF copy of the TFM or PhD thesis submitted for the award.
    • Certificate indicating the defense date.
    • Grade obtained.
    • Brief presentation (maximum 1 page) of the reasons and merits for which the work is submitted for the award, emphasizing originality, practical application, potential technology transfer, results, and adaptation to the chapter’s lines. It is recommended to specify if the work submitted for the award has resulted in any conference and/or journal publications and provide the DOI(s).

5. Jury. The jury will consist of members of the Board of the IEEE SPCOM Chapter and expert advisors (chapter members) as deemed appropriate.
6. Evaluation Criteria. The evaluation criteria for award allocation will consider the following aspects:

• • Originality and quality of the work.
  • Practical application and potential for technology transfer.
  • Results obtained and publications, especially in journals and conferences of the IEEE Signal Processing Society or the IEEE Communications Society. This criterion is of predominant importance for doctoral theses.

7. Important Dates.

• • Deadline for submissions: March 31, 2025.
  • Jury decision: April 11, 2025.

8. Additional Considerations. Awardees authorize the IEEE SPCOM Chapter to publish their names, the title of the awarded work, and the abstract in the media deemed appropriate by the Chapter. Documentation from other candidates will be destroyed within one month after the jury’s decision. If deemed appropriate, the jury may declare shared or vacant awards. Any matter not covered in these rules will be resolved by the jury. Participation in this award implies acceptance of all the terms of the call.