For a paper published in any venue during the previous calendar year  (2017) that shows significant potential to advance the field of  Artificial Life. 
 Winner:
Droplets As Liquid Robots
 Jitka Čejková, Taisuke Banno, Martin M. Hanczyc and František Štěpánek
 Artificial Life, Vol. 23, No. 4 (2017), pp. 528-549  
