The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists competition is open to young faculty-rank scientists across the United States. The program is comprised of three overarching disciplinary categories: physical sciences and engineering, chemistry, and life sciences.
Eligible disciplines can be viewed on the Blavatnik website. Every year, one winner in each category will be awarded $250,000 in unrestricted funds.
This is a limited submission opportunity, and Vanderbilt may nominate one faculty member in each of the three categories. Eligible nominees must:
- Have been born in or after 1974;
- Hold a doctoral degree (Ph.D., D.Phil., M.D., D.D.S., D.V.M., etc.);
- Have made significant research contributions to the life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, or chemistry during their independent career as a principal investigator.
Previously nominated individuals who were not selected as laureates in past awards cycles may be nominated again. Past faculty winners of the Blavatnik Regional Awards are not eligible.
The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists welcomes nominations from underrepresented groups in science and engineering.
Anyone interested in being considered as one of Vanderbilt’s nominees must submit the following as a single PDF to LSO@vanderbilt.edu by 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015:
- Brief statement of support from your department chair/center director;
- A brief CV or NIH Biosketch;
- A summary of the nominee’s most significant scientific contributions and research accomplishments (1,000-word maximum, 10-point Ariel font). Citations do not count towards the word limit, and up to one figure is allowed. The statement should address how the candidate’s research has broadly impacted science and how it meets the Blavatnik Award’s following criteria:
- Quality: the extent to which the work is reliable, valid, credible and scientifically rigorous.
- Impact: the extent to which the work addresses an important problem and is influential in the candidate’s field.
- Novelty: the extent to which the work challenges existing paradigms, employs new methodologies or concepts and/or pursues an original question.
- Promise: future prospects in the nominee’s field and potential for further significant contributions to science.
Submissions should reference the program name and the specific discipline (physical sciences/engineering, chemistry or life sciences) in the subject line of the email.
Once received, all proposals will be forwarded to an internal review committee that will choose the final nominees. The chosen nominees will submit a full proposal to the foundation by the Nov. 18, 2015, deadline.
Contact: Elizabeth Rapisarda, (615) 322-3684