The official banner for the IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality + User Interfaces, comprised of a Kiwi wearing a VR headset overlaid on an image of Mount Cook and a braided river.

IEEE VISUALIZATION AND GRAPHICS TECHNICAL COMMUNITY VIRTUAL REALITY AWARDS AND ACADEMY

The IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Awards recognize and honor individuals who have made significant contributions to our broadly defined virtual and mixedreality community through their research and/orthrough service.Annual awards are given for Lifetime Achievement, Technical Achievement, Significant New Researcher, Best Dissertation, and Service. In addition, each year our community inducts new members to the Virtual Reality Academy. An overview of the awards and the criteria for each can be found here.

Call for Nominations for 2026 IEEE VR Awards and VR Academy

Nominations for the 2026 Awards are open now. Award and Academy criteria and Nomination forms are linked below. We invite and encourage members of the Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality community to nominate individuals for the 2026 IEEE VGTC VR Awards and/or for Academy Membership. Self-nomination is allowed. The awards will be presented at the IEEE VR 2026 conference, March 21-25 in Daegu, Korea and at ISMAR 2026, location TBD.

Nomination deadlines

  • August 31, 2025 Best Dissertation Award
  • October 1,2025 All other awards and VR Academy

Links to Nomination Forms for VR Awards and VR Academy

For questions or additional information please email the Awards Program Chairat vgtc-vr-awards@vgtc.org

Nominate now for the 2026 IEEE VGTC Virtual and Mixed Reality Awards

Nominations are now open for the 2026 IEEE VGTC Virtual and Mixed Reality Awards and for new members for the Virtual Reality Academy. These awards are presented yearly and are our IEEE Technical Community for Visualization and Graphics's highest recognition for contributions by members of our community. There will be awards ceremonies at both IEEE VR 2026 and ISMAR 2026.

Award criteria: https://tc.computer.org/vgtc/award-criteria/

Nomination forms: https://tc.computer.org/vgtc/awards/vr-award-nominations/

Nomination deadlines for 2026 awards:

  • 15 July 2025 Best Dissertation
  • 1 October 2025 All other awards and VR Academy

Questions? Email the Awards Chair at: vgtc-vr-awards@vgtc.org

IEEE 2025 VGTC Virtual Reality Awards

The IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Awards recognize and honor individuals who have made a significant contribution to our broadly defined virtual, augmented, mixed, and extended reality community through their research and/or service.

Except for the Outstanding Dissertation Award (those nominations closed in September), all nominations were due by January 5th, 2025. In 2025 for the first time, we will recognize all of the VGTC VR award winners at both IEEE VR and IEEE ISMAR. Recipients may choose to receive their award at either conference.

Awards:

For questions or additional information please email IEEE VGTC VR Awards Program Chair, currently Mary Whitton, at vgtc-vr-awards@vgtc.org.

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