Launched in 2012, the SESAR Young Scientist Award recognised young scientists who have demonstrated excellence in ATM and aviation-related research fields. On 29 June, the SESAR JU organised a webinar to touch base with some of the previous winners of the award, learn how their careers have developed since winning, and hear their views on how our industry can nurture, attract and retain young talent.


The webinar heard from three former winners of the award:

  • Gianluca Di Flumeri won the award in 2018 for a ground-breaking method for evaluating controllers’ mental workload using brain activity measurements. Read more about Gianluca’s research.

  • 2015 winner, Floris Herrema, whose work helps to enhance the understanding of the behaviour of aircraft on final approach. It has a direct impact on the safety of time-based separation (TBS), as deployed at Heathrow Airport, as well as the RECAT 2 reduction in wake vortex separation between pairs of aircraft on final approach. Read more about Floris’ research.

  • Manuel Soler, winner of the 2013 award for his work on ‘Commercial Aircraft Trajectory Optimization based on Multiphase Mixed Integer Optimal Control’, who will explain how his career has evolved since winning the award. Today, Manuel has become more actively engaged with SESAR. Read more about Manuel’s current research within the SESAR programme.

Watch the webinar playback

Submit your application and become the next SESAR Young Scientist