Guidelines for Completing
2012 Nomination & Application Forms
These guidelines will help you to complete both the Nomination and Application procedures for the 2012 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists competition.
The New York Academy of Sciences' Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists program acknowledges and celebrates the excellence of the most noteworthy young scientists and engineers in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
These awards recognize highly innovative, impactful, and novel accomplishments in the life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering, with unrestricted financial prizes for all finalists and awardees.
There are three distinct components of the application process for the 2012 competition:
- The Nomination Form, which opens on Thursday, December 1, 2011, and closes at midnight (24:00 EST) on Tuesday, January 31, 2012. The Nomination Form can be found at http://www.nyas.org/blavatnik2012nomination.
- The Application Form, which can only be accessed once the Nomination Form has been submitted, is available on Thursday, December 1, 2011, and closes at midnight (24:00 EST) on Wednesday, February 15, 2012.
(Please note that applicants will be asked to fill out a brief Registration Form before they can access their Application Form.)
- Two Letters of Recommendation, which must be emailed to awards@nyas.org by midnight (24:00 EST) on Wednesday, February 15, 2012.
General Instructions
Submission
Both the Nomination and Application Forms may only be submitted using the online forms.
- The deadline for submitting the Nomination Form is Tuesday, January 31, 2012. (Nominations submitted after midnight (24:00 EST) on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 will not be accepted.
- The deadline for submitting the Application Form is Wednesday, February 15, 2012. The Application Form cannot be accessed until the Nomination Form is submitted. In other words, the candidate cannot complete his/her section until the nominator has first initiated the process.
- The deadline for having Letters of Recommendation emailed to awards@nyas.org is Wednesday, February 15, 2012.
Categories To Apply Under
There are two distinct categories under which candidates can apply for the 2012 Blavatnik Awards competition; each category contains its own unique eligibility and application requirements.
Faculty Category
To be eligible to apply under the Faculty category, candidates must:
- Have been born on or after January 1, 1970.
- Have earned a terminal degree in the field (PhD, MD, MD/PhD, DDS, or DVM).
- Be currently holding a faculty research position at an academic institution in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut and have made significant contributions to the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Mathematics, or Engineering.
Nominations in the Faculty category may be submitted in one of three ways:
- By a President, Dean, or Provost on behalf of an institution (Institutional Nomination)
- By an individual on behalf of the nominee (Peer Nomination)
- By the nominee him/herself (Self-Nomination)
The deadline for submitting the Nomination Form is Tuesday, January 31, 2012. The deadline for submitting the Application Form and emailing Letters of Recommendation is Wednesday, February 15, 2012.
Each winner in the Faculty category is endowed with $25,000 in unrestricted funds. Finalists will receive $10,000 in unrestricted funds.
Postdoctoral Category
To be eligible to apply under the Postdoctoral category, candidates must:
- Have been born on or after January 1, 1970.
- Have earned a terminal degree in the field (PhD, MD, MD/PhD, DDS, or DVM).
- Be currently holding a postdoctoral research position at an academic institution in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut and have made significant contributions to the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Mathematics, or Engineering.
Nominations in the Postdoctoral category may only be submitted by a President, Dean, or Provost on behalf of an institution (Institutional Nomination). Self-Nominations and Peer-Nominations for Postdoctoral candidates will not be accepted.
New to the 2012 Program: Institutions may only submit up to 10 postdoctoral nominations each; if an institution nominates more than 10 postdocs, only the first 10 nominations will be accepted. If you are a representative responsible for submitting Institutional Nominations, please coordinate with your colleagues on this nomination process to ensure that your institution does not go over the limit.
The deadline for submitting the Nomination Form is Tuesday, January 31, 2012. The deadline for submitting the Application Form and emailing Letters of Recommendation is Wednesday, February 15, 2012.
Each winner in the Postdoctoral category is endowed with $15,000 in unrestricted funds. Finalists will receive $5,000 in unrestricted funds.
Please Note for Faculty & Postdoctoral Candidates
- Individuals are allowed to apply twice for the Blavatnik Awards.
- Past Blavatnik Award applicants who were not selected as finalists in either the Faculty or Postdoctoral categories are allowed to reapply once more if they fulfill the eligibility criteria.
- Past Postdoctoral finalists who now hold a faculty position may be nominated or self-nominate in the Faculty category if they fulfill the eligibility criteria.
- Any work completed as part of the candidates' doctoral training will not be evaluated; this applies to both Faculty and Postdoctoral candidates.
Part 1: The Nomination Form
The Nomination Form can be found at http://www.nyas.org/blavatnik2012nomination. (Starting Thursday, December 1, 2011 this link will be available on the main Awards website.)
If you are a President, Provost, or Dean responsible for submitting Institutional Nominations on behalf of a Postdoctoral candidate, please coordinate with other like officials at your institution to ensure that you do not go over 10 nominations. If your institution collectively nominates more than 10 Postdoctoral candidates, only the first 10 nominations received will be accepted.
Candidate Information
Application Category: To which category, Faculty or Postdoctoral, are you submitting a nomination? Please consult the eligibility requirements provided above.
Type of Nomination: Postdoctoral candidates may only be nominated by a President, Dean, or Provost on behalf of an institution (Institutional Nomination); Faculty candidates may be nominated by an institutional representative or a peer, or they may self-nominate.
Nominee Name: First and Last Names are required. Please be sure that the spelling of both names is correct.
Nominee Primary Department: If applicable; otherwise leave blank. Please do not abbreviate (e.g. Dept. of Chem.).
Nominee Institution: The complete name of the institution where the candidate is currently employed. Please do not abbreviate (e.g. NYU, CSHL). (To be eligible for the 2012 Blavatnik Awards competition, the candidate must hold a current position at an institution in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut.)
Nominee Email: The nominee's email address, preferably under a professional domain.
Nominator Information
Nominator Name: First and Last Names are required.
Nominator Email: The nominator's email address, preferably under a professional domain.
Nominator Phone Number: Please provide a phone number where the nominator can be reached directly.
Nominator Title: The title or position as administered by the nominator's institution. Please omit honorary or endowed descriptions and degrees such as PhD, MD, DDS, or DVM. Please do not abbreviate (e.g. Asst. Dean of Acad. Aff.).
Nominator Department: If applicable; otherwise leave blank. Please do not abbreviate (e.g. Dept. of Acad. Aff.).
Please Describe the Qualifications of the Nominator to Submit this Nomination: If submitting on behalf of an institution or if submitting a peer nomination, please describe your role as someone responsible for submitting an application. If submitting a Self-Nomination, please leave blank.
Does the Nominator have an intellectual or commercial relationship with the Nominee? Indicate whether you, the nominator, have an intellectual or commercial relationship with the candidate. If yes, please provide further information.
Rationale for Nomination: Please state how the candidate's research has broadly impacted science. Explain how his or her work has been novel, elegant and interdisciplinary. The statement cannot exceed 2,000 characters (including spaces). (This Rationale will not be made viewable to the applicant under any conditions.)
Once the Nomination Form has been submitted, the nominator will receive an automated confirmation email sent to the email address entered above. If a confirmation email is not received it is likely because the form was not submitted successfully; please call (212) 298-8624 before attempting to submit that nomination for a second time.
Part 2: The Application Form
Next Steps After the Nomination
Once the Nomination Form has been submitted, the applicant will receive an automated email directing them towards a preliminary Registration Form, where the applicant will be able to create a password. Once that Registration Form is submitted, the applicant will receive a second email with a registration confirmation and the link to the official log-in screen for their personalized profile page. Please note that the web addresses for both the Registration Form and the Application Form are not provided online and are only made available once the Nomination Form has been submitted. Applicants cannot begin their part of the application process until their nominator has submitted the Nomination Form. (Though if faculty choose to self-nominate, they will fill out their own Nomination Form.)
On the Application Form, applicants will have the ability to create a profile (optional), view these Guidelines and a list of Frequently Asked Questions, view the nomination information already entered for them by their nominator (except for the Rationale for Nomination), enter in all additional biographical information required, and upload their supporting documents; applicants will not be able to edit the information that their nominator has already submitted, and therefore it is important that the applicant make sure in advance that the information provided to the nominator is both accurate and complete. The Application Form must be submitted by midnight (24:00 EST) on Wednesday, February 15, 2012. Please be advised that the application is not finished until submitted and the applicant receives a confirmation notice on-screen and an automated email.
Candidate Information
Nominee Title: The title or position as administered by the candidate's institution. Please omit honorary or endowed descriptions and degrees such as PhD, MD, DDS, or DVM; this information can be detailed in the required CV. Please do not abbreviate (e.g. Asst. Prof.).
Nominee Phone: Please provide a phone number where the candidate can be reached directly; an office number is preferable over a lab number, though both will suffice. Please do not provide a personal home or cell phone number.
Nominee Highest Degree Earned: The candidate is required to hold a terminal degree such as a PhD, MD, DDS, or DVM. Please indicate the highest degree earned.
Field of Research: Please indicate the major focus of the candidate's research by selecting one of the 35 disciplines or sub-disciplines from the drop-down menu.
Postdoc Investigator: If applying in the Postdoctoral category, please provide the name of the Primary Investigator of the lab in which the candidate works. If you are applying in the Faculty category, please leave this field blank.
Date of Birth: Please indicate the candidate's day, month, and year of birth. All candidates must have been born on or after January 1, 1970.
Re-Applicants: Individuals are allowed to apply twice for the Blavatnik Awards; if the candidate has applied before, please indicate the year and category under which that application was submitted.
Supplemental Documents to Upload
Curriculum Vitae: Labeled 'LastName'_'FirstName'-CV.pdf
A biographical sketch in NIH/NSF format (limit 4 pages), including:
- Name
- Institution
- Title
- Educational/training background. This includes all institutions, degrees (and, if applicable, years), and field(s) of study.
- List of positions in chronological order (concluding with the present position).
- List of any honors or awards.
- List of select peer-reviewed publications (in chronological order). Do not include publications submitted or in preparation.
- List of select patent publications.
- Research Support: List of selected and ongoing or completed research projects. Do not list award amounts or percent effort in projects.
Research Statement: Labeled 'LastName'_'FirstName'-Statement.pdf
A summary of research activity (limit 500 words). The statement should also address how the research has broadly impacted science and how it has been Innovative, Impactful and Novel.
Publications and Patents (sequential 1-4): Labeled 'LastName'_'FirstName'-Pub1.pdf
Full-text published papers or filed patents of work conducted within New York, New Jersey, and/or Connecticut that best supports candidacy. Up to four publications may be submitted. Publications must not be larger than 20MB each.
- For the Faculty and Postdoctoral categories, no work completed during the doctoral studies will be considered.
Supplemental Documents to Email
Letters of Support (sequential 1-2): Labeled 'LastName'_'FirstName'-Letter1.pdf
In addition to the above files being uploaded to their online application, it is the responsibility of the candidate to solicit Letters of Support from two separate sources. These letters should speak to the candidate's specific strengths in the three aforementioned categories: Impact, Innovation, and Novelty; letters should not exceed two pages in length.
The letters must be emailed as a PDF to awards@nyas.org by midnight (24:00 EST) on Wednesday, February 15, 2012. These letters will be attached to the applicant's file and their receipt will be confirmed shortly following the February 15 deadline. Letter writers must be instructed not to protect PDF files.
After the Application is Received
Judging
A panel of distinguished judges evaluates applications based on the quality of the research, concentrating on its broad impact and how novel, elegant, and interdisciplinary it is. Please find a list of judges for last year's competition here.
Notification of Decisions
Candidates will be notified of their status in the early summer months via email. The primary email addressed used is awards@nyas.org under the name 'Awards Administrator'. If you received a confirmation email stating that your application was successfully submitted, you will receive a notification of the decision on your file in the early Summer; please do not call or email with any inquiries about when these decisions will be announced.
Questions?
For questions related to the general program or application/nomination requirements, please first consult the Frequently Asked Questions page at http://www.nyas.org/Awards/BlavatnikFAQ.aspx.
For questions related to the functionality of the various online forms, please use the 'Feedback' button on the left-hand side of the main Application Portal. Inquiries submitted through this button will be answered by technicians within 2-5 business days.
If your question is still not answered, please contact Mr. Marley Bauce, Awards Coordinator, at mbauce@nyas.org or 212.298.8624.
Previous Guidelines
2011 Guidelines
2010 Guidelines
2009 Guidelines
2008 Guidelines
2007 Guidelines
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