The Commission aimed to promote young scientists and wanted to honour outstanding academic carreers. For this reason, two awards had been established:
The WALDO TOBLER GIScience PRIZE was awarded annually or bi-annually to an individual who, like Waldo Tobler, has exhibited outstanding and sustained contributions to the discipline worthy of inspiring young scientists in Geoinformatics or Geographic Information Science, and has accomplished significant advances in these fields. Recipients have included achievements in research as well as in education and are likely to have outstanding stature within the Geoinformatics and Geographic Information Science communities.
The YOUNG RESEARCHER AWARD IN GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE was presented each year to up to three junior scientists in the wider fields of Geoinformatics and Geographic Information Science for already having made a significant contribution to this discipline. The intent of this award was to publicly recognize researchers early in their careers for notable innovation and as an encouragement towards further achievements.