Sir Paul Terence Callaghan (19th August 1947 – 24th March 2012) was a New Zealand physicist and Fellow of the Royal Society who authored over 230 journal articles that present major advances in NMR methodologies for the study of molecular dynamics and molecular organization in complex fluids, soft matter and porous materials. He is most well known in the ICMRM community for his contributions in Rheo-NMR, diffusion of molecules in porous media, and development of NMR techniques that utilise the earth’s magnetic field. As the founding director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at Victoria University of Wellington, he held the position of Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences.
He was also an outstanding and beloved mentor to young investigators in the ICMRM community. He was involved with the ICMRM conference through organization and participation from the very beginning in 1991 until his last attendance in China, 2011. He placed a high priority on attending the Young Investigator section at the meeting, and could be relied on to engage with all the finalists in the Young Investigator competition through thought provoking questions and follow-up discussion. In 2013, the Young Investigator Award was renamed the Paul Callaghan Young Investigator Award in honour of his commitment to mentoring young investigators.
In recognition of the merits of Sir Paul Terence Callaghan, young investigators, i.e. students or postdocs up to 2 years after receiving their PhD, are eligible to contribute papers for the Young Investigator competition. A jury selected by the conference organisers will select up to five to present their work in a plenary session. The best presentation receives the Paul Callaghan Award during the conference banquet.