2020 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists award categories:
- Chemistry
- Physical Science & Engineering
- Life Sciences.
VU can nominate one candidate for the Chemistry and one candidate for the Physical Science & Engineering award categories. VU and VUMC are holding a joint competition to select one candidate for the Life Sciences award category. These awards honor exceptional young scientists by celebrating their extraordinary achievements, recognizing their inspiring promise, and accelerating their innovations. Awardees will receive $250,000 in unrestricted funds.
The eligibility criteria, guidelines for selection, and application materials are consistent across these three award categories. The deadline for all three internal competitions is Sept. 18, 2019.
Eligibility Criteria
The nominee must:
- Have been born in or after 1978*
- Hold a doctorate level degree (PhD, DPhil, MD, DDS, DVM, etc.)
- Currently hold a faculty position at an invited institution in the US
- Currently conduct research as a principal investigator in the award category
Guidelines for Selection
Each nominee and their body of work will be evaluated based on the quality of their research, the impact on their respective field, the novelty of their ideas and methods, and the potential they show for future contributions to science.
Application Materials
Anyone interested in being considered as a nominee must submit the following materials by Sept. 18, 2019.
- Brief (2 page maximum) description of your research. Here are some recommended guidelines (See guidelines):
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- Summarize up to five of your most significant scientific contributions and research accomplishments.
- Key results, their impact on your field of study, and your specific role in the described work should be included.
- Information about your positions, awards, and service activities should be excluded.
- One figure illustrating the most significant results is allowed.
- Letter of support from department chair/center director
- NIH Biosketch or Brief CV (5 page max)
Application Process
Please note that the application process differs across the three award competitions.
- VU faculty interested in the Chemistry award category should visit https://vanderbilt.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1794933 to submit an application for the internal LSO competition.
- VU faculty interested in the Physical Science & Engineering award category should visit https://vanderbilt.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1794934 to submit an application for the internal LSO competition.
- VU and VUMC faculty interested in the Life Sciences award category can apply for the Life Sciences award category by emailing their application materials as a single PDF to LSO@Vanderbilt.edu by 5 p.m. on the deadline date.
The FY 2020 competition is anticipated, but the solicitation has not been released yet. Please refer to the FY 2019 solicitation until the new solicitation is posted.
*Note that the birth year cut-off is anticipated to change to 1978.
Any questions about this opportunity or the LSO process can be directed to VU-LSO@vanderbilt.edu.