Do You Have What It Takes to Win a Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists?

Nominations for the 2022 Blavatnik National Awards are being accepted from October 6 through November 17, 2021.

Science has the power to shape and expand the world around us. Our virtual communities and connections, our ability to protect ourselves from disease, and our understanding of the stars in the sky, are all due to the work of great scientists around the globe. In return, our great scientists deserve to be thanked, honored, and rewarded.

The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists were created to do just that.  Established by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and independently administered by the New York Academy of Sciences in the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom, the Blavatnik Awards encourage outstanding scientists early in their careers to pursue the kinds of transformational research our world needs.

The Blavatnik National Awards honor faculty-level scientists and engineers 42 years of age and younger from across the United States. This award recognizes scientists across the entire spectrum of scientific discovery, divided into three categories: Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Physical Sciences & Engineering. One Laureate from each category will be bestowed the largest unrestricted prize ever created for early-career scientists: $250,000; additional nominees will be recognized as Finalists.

With scientists coming from the entire breadth of scientific research, how does one compare a microbiologist to a neuroscientist or an electrical engineer to a geologist?  Irrespective of the scientific field, all scientists can be judged on the quality, novelty, and impact of their research as well as their potential for further revolutionary scientific contributions.

So, want to become a Blavatnik National Awards Laureate?  Or perhaps you know a talented young scientist?  Here’s a “how-to” on joining the prestigious community of Blavatnik Awards honorees.

STEP 1: Learn more about the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists

Go to the Blavatnik National Awards website to learn about the program.  You’ll find full details, eligibility requirements, and what’s expected of you if you win on our Guidelines page.

STEP 2: Am I eligible?

Nominees for the 2022 Blavatnik National Awards must:

• Have been born in or after 1980.
• 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.

Full details, including information on age-limit exceptions, dual appointments, and returning nominees can be found on our nomination Guidelines page here.

The Blavatnik National Awards focus on the nominee’s independent career—their discoveries since the beginning of their first tenure-track faculty appointment.

STEP 3: Get yourself nominated

Nominees must be put forward by their universities and research institutions—you can’t directly nominate yourself or someone else.  To learn more about how the selection process works at your institution, contact your institution’s designated nominator, listed here, and inquire if you can be considered for nomination.

A more diverse scientific workforce will accelerate discovery and innovation, and the Blavatnik Awards are committed to honoring the most talented young scientists—regardless of race, ethnicity, disability status, gender, or field of study. We strongly encourage women and members of other groups historically underrepresented in science and engineering to pursue nomination.

STEP 4: Prepare your nomination materials

Once selected for nomination by your institution, you should work with your institutional nominator to prepare your nomination materials.  You’ll need to provide a Research Summary; an up-to-date CV; Professional Service and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement; up to four of your best scientific publications; and the names of two people who can provide Letters of Support.  More information and instructions can be found on our Nomination Materials and Information page, or you can contact the Blavatnik Awards Team if you need further guidance.

Once your application is finished, submit your completed nominations materials to the designated nominator at your institution.  Nominations close on November 17, 2021, so be sure to start preparing your materials soon.

STEP 5: WIN!

If the Blavatnik National Awards jury has selected you as a Finalist or as one of the three Blavatnik National Awards Laureates, you and your institution will be contacted by the Academy in the late spring or early summer of 2022.  You will be invited to participate in the Blavatnik Science Symposium later that summer, and honored at the 2022 Blavatnik National Awards Ceremony to be held in New York City in September 2022.