The Italian Chapter of the IEEE ITS Society has been officially approved in February 2021 and its
main objective is to gather all researchers working in Italy, both in academic institutions and in the
industry, in the broad area of Intelligent Transportation Systems. The Italian Chapter of the IEEE
Intelligent Transportation Systems Society represents an important opportunity for Italian
researchers to meet, to share new ideas for projects and collaborations, to promote common
actions for both education and research, to discuss the possibilities to spread the knowledge of ITS
community to other scientific communities and to local/regional/national/international
institutions and companies, as well as to involve (high school, Master and PhD) students in learning
initiatives in the area of Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Along this line, the IEEE ITS Italian Chapter has decided to create, starting from 2021, the Best PhD
Dissertation Award for the best dissertation in any ITS area that is innovative and relevant to
practice. This award is established to encourage doctoral research that combines theory and
practice, makes in-depth technical contributions, or is interdisciplinary in nature, having the
potential to contribute to the ITS area and broaden the ITS topics from either the methodological
or application perspectives.

Eligibility
For the 2024 IEEE ITS Italian Chapter Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award, we invite nominations of young researchers whose Ph.D. thesis meets the following requirements:
● Research mainly conducted in Italy or in collaboration with Italian institutes (at least one advisor must be affiliated with an Italian institute);
● Diploma granted between January 1, 2022 and March 31, 2024.

We invite theses on a broad spectrum of topics that relate to ITS. These topics include, but are not
limited to:

• Autonomous Vehicles
• AI for ITS
• Big data analytics, machine learning, AI applications
• Case studies and assessment of ITS applications
• Communication (inter-vehicle, vehicle-to-roadside)
• Computers (hardware, software)
• Control (adaptive, fuzzy, cooperative, neuro, ….)
• Decision Systems (expert systems, intelligent agents)
• Demand modelling and travel behaviour under ITS
• Energy and Environment
• Freight transportation and logistics
• Human-Machine Interfaces
• Imaging & Real-Time Image Analysis
• Infrastructures and networks (engineering, architecture, evaluation)
• Information Systems (databases, data fusion, security)
• ITS in Developing Countries
• ITS-oriented traffic planning, operations and management
• Mobility as a Service
• Privacy & security of ITS
• Rail Operations and Management
• Reliability & Quality Assurance
• Sensors (infrastructure and vehicle-based)
• Simulation (continuous, discrete, real-time)
• Signal Processing for transportation
• Smart Public Transport Systems
• Societal implications of ITS
• Sustainable and Smart Mobility
• Standards in transport area
• Technology Forecasting & Transfer
• Traffic Flow Modelling and Control

Selection Process
The winner of the award will be determined in two steps. First, a review committee will evaluate the submitted material and identify a shortlist of candidates. Second, these selected candidates will be invited to give a presentation of their work with the review jury. The jury will then select the winner.
The selection process will be based on the following criteria:
● Originality and depth of contribution,
● Methodological soundness,
● Form and quality of presentation, and
● Significance for the research field.

Submission
The candidate is responsible for submitting the nomination material via Easychair by uploading a unique PDF file using the following link:

SUBMISSION LINK
The nomination material, as a unique PDF, must include the following documents:

1. A one-page abstract (as a PDF file) written by the award candidate, highlighting the significance of the problem, the technical approach taken, the application context and potential, and the scope of the dissertation.
2. The full doctoral dissertation (as a PDF file or a link to a repository written in a .txt file).

Submission Deadline
The deadline for the 2024 IEEE ITS Italian Chapter Best Ph.D. The Dissertation Award is April30, 2024 (Strict).

Prize and Presentation

All the finalists selected for the Best Ph.D. Dissertations Award will have the opportunity to present
their scientific results in a dedicated session of the special event annually organized by the IEEE
ITSS Italian Chapter.
All the finalists will be acknowledged by the Italian Chapter community (also by means of the ITSS
Newsletter, and on the Italian Chapter website and social media) and will receive a certificate for
their significant scientific contribution. The winner will be announced during the annual special
event of the Italian Chapter and will receive a monetary prize of 500€.

Organizing Committee

Stefano De Luca, Università degli Studi di Salerno [sdeluca@rdipace]
Paolo Falcone, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia [falcone@unimore.it]
Giuseppe Vizzari, Università degli Studi di Milano – Bicocca [giuseppe.vizzari@unimib.it@unimib.it]