2025 Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship winner
In conjunction with its 20th International Conference on Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI 2025) to be held on June 23-27, 2025 in Yerevan (Armenia), the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI) solicited nominations for the Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship. The purpose of the scholarship is to foster research in informetrics, including bibliometrics, scientometrics, webmetrics, and altmetrics by encouraging and assisting doctoral students in the field with their dissertation research.
We were very pleased to have received nine high-quality nominations from across the globe for this year’s award. All nominees submitted their doctoral research proposals, recommendation letters by their PhD supervisors, and CVs. The nominees have produced high quality and visionary work and selecting an award winner among them was not easy. The selection committee conducted a rigorous review and discussion process to evaluate the originality, quality, and relevance of each submission. Results were then compiled, and the committee arrived at a final consensus.
We are happy to announce that Ms. Lili Miao from Indiana University Bloomington in the United States is the winner of the 2025 Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship. Lili Miao’s dissertation titled "Developing National Science: A Systemic Analysis of Global Structures of Funding, Collaboration, and Production" offers a comprehensive framework for understanding how national scientific capacity emerges through the interplay of funding, human capital, institutional infrastructure, and international collaboration. Her work reveals how structural inequalities, global interdependence, and disciplinary dynamics shape the opportunities and constraints facing countries—particularly those with limited resources—in building sustainable scientific systems. The committee was especially impressed by the systemic perspective, empirical depth, and policy relevance of her research.
In addition, the committee is pleased to recognize two other outstanding nominees with honorable mentions: Mr. Alex Jie Yang from Nanjing University (China) and Ms. Francielle Franco dos Santos from São Paulo State University, Brazil.
As Lili Miao will be unable to attend ISSI2025 in person, a pre-recorded video of her presenting her work will be shown during the Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship ceremony.
The details about the application process, selection criteria and award are available https://issi2025.iiap.sci.am/special/ The scholarship award consists of a 3,000 USD grant donated by the Eugene Garfield Foundation to support the academic work of the winner.
The committee for the 2025 Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship consisted of the four members:
- Guillaume Cabanac, University of Toulouse & Institut Universitaire de France, France
- Nees Jan van Eck, CWTS, Leiden University, the Netherlands
- Mike Thelwall, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Lin Zhang, Wuhan university, China (ISSI Board member)
We thank all nominees for sharing their inspiring work and congratulate them on the quality and impact of their research. The depth and diversity of this year’s submissions reflect the strength and promise of the next generation in our field.