Slots: Three total. One each for Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Life Sciences.
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Friday, October 13, 2023, 5pm PT Under review.
Nomination Deadline: November 29, 2023
Letter of Support Deadline: December 13, 2023
Award Information
Award Type: Grant
Estimated Amount: $250,000 in unrestricted funding
Who May Serve As PI: The nominee must:
- Have been born in or after 1982.
- Hold a doctorate degree (PhD, DPhil, MD, DDS, DVM, etc.).
- Currently hold a tenured or tenure-track academic faculty position (or equivalent) at an invited institution in the United States.
- Currently conduct research as a principal investigator in one of the disciplinary categories in Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, or Chemistry.
Nomination of underrepresented populations in STEM
In spite of tremendous advancements in scientific research, information, and education, opportunities are still not equally available to all. Women, persons with disabilities, and individuals identifying as Black, American Indian, or Hispanic/Latinx continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields1,2. The Blavatnik Awards strongly encourages all those submitting nominations to the Awards—including institutional nominators, Scientific Advisory Council members, and past Blavatnik Awards Laureates—to diversify the population of candidates nominated for this Award.
Age Limit Exceptions
Age limit exceptions will be considered by the Blavatnik Family Foundation in exceptional circumstances upon a detailed written submission from the nominating institution received by the New York Academy of Sciences by Wednesday, November 8, 2023. For more information, please contact us at blavatnikawards@nyas.org. We strongly encourage institutions considering nominating candidates born prior to 1982 to contact us as early as possible during the nomination period.
Dual or Joint Appointments
For nominees holding a dual or joint appointment at more than one institution, the nominee must be employed by the nominating institution at least 50% full-time effort.
Returning Nominees
Non-winning nominees from prior Blavatnik Awards nomination cycles are eligible to be re-nominated by their institutions as one of their three nominees, provided they still meet all eligibility requirements.
Re-Nomination of Past Finalists
Nominees previously recognized as Finalists of the Blavatnik National Awards are eligible for re-nomination by their institution for the 2024 Blavatnik National Awards, provided they meet the following requirements:
- Returning Finalists must still meet the eligibility requirements for the 2024 Blavatnik National Awards. For Returning Finalists born prior to 1982, age limit exception requests must be submitted and approved by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, as described above.
- Nomination of Returning Finalists must be pre-approved by the New York Academy of Sciences. A letter outlining the nominee’s significant new achievements since their last recognition by the Blavatnik National Awards must be submitted, along with an updated CV as described on the Nomination Materials & Instructions page.
Returning Finalists will count towards an institution’s limit of three nominees.
All relevant materials listed above must be submitted to blavatnikawards@nyas.org by the institution’s official nominator by Wednesday, November 8, 2023, and must be approved by the New York Academy of Sciences before submission of nomination materials.
We strongly encourage institutions considering nominating a Returning Finalist to contact us as early as possible during the nomination period.
Link to Award: http://blavatnikawards.org/awards/national-awards/
Nomination Submission Link: https://blavatniknational.smapply.io/
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Research Initiatives and Infrastructure (RII) Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/. Use the template provided here: RII Limited Submission Applicant Template
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Two-Page Proposal Summary (1” margins; single-spaced; standard font type, e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 2-page limit will be excluded from review. You must use the template linked above.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#, Gender, and Ethnicity. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
The Blavatnik National Awards honor America’s most innovative young faculty-rank scientists and engineers.
These awards celebrate the past accomplishments and future potential of young faculty members working in the three disciplinary categories of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemistry.
Nominees and their work as independent investigators will be evaluated according to the 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, advances scientific progress, and is influential in the nominee’s field, related fields, or beyond, and/or has the potential to benefit society.
- Novelty: The extent to which the work challenges existing paradigms, establishes a new field or considerably expands on an existing field, employs original methodologies or concepts, and/or pursues an original question.
- Promise: The nominee has potential for further significant contributions to science, and the research program will generate further impactful and novel discoveries.
Nominating institutions are encouraged to consider candidates across the institution, focusing on the scope of the candidate’s work and its relevance within a given scientific category. For example, an institution can nominate a Chemistry nominee who is not based in the Chemistry Department, but is leading a research program in one of the disciplinary categories covered by the Chemistry section of the Blavatnik Awards. Nominating institutions seeking more guidance may contact the Academy at blavatnikawards@nyas.org.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.