Funding & Awards

The awards below require a campus nomination process. For questions on the next round of nominations, contact External Scholarships and Fellowships Advising at fellowships@stonybrook.edu.

NYAS Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists

• Description

  The New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists acknowledge and celebrate the excellence of the most noteworthy young scientists and engineers in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The regional competition recognize outstanding postdoctoral-rank researchers who work in disciplines in the life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering with unrestricted financial prizes for both finalists and awardees.

• Eligibility
  The nominee must:

  • Have been born in or after 1982.
  • Hold a doctoral degree (PhD, DPhil, MD, DDS, DVM, etc.).
  • Currently hold a postdoctoral position at Stony Brook University.
  • Currently conduct research in one of the disciplinary categories in Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, or Chemistry.
• Nominations
  Applicants must be nominated by Stony Brook and may NOT submit directly to Blavatnik.

   

  Campus Nomination Deadline: November 1, 2023

  Reference letters will be uploaded directly by referees via online submission after the nomination is confirmed; due December 13, 2023.
• How To Apply

  Complete a nomination package, starting with the online SBU application form.

  APPLY HERE

  LETTERS OF SUPPORT: In the application form, you will designate two letter of reference writers. Blavatnik recommends one be a current or previous supervisor, and the other be someone not at Stony Brook who has never been your supervisor. http://blavatnikawards.org/awards/regional-awards/nomination-materials-instructions/.

  NOTE: Letters of Support will be solicited after the nomination is submitted and must be uploaded by the letter writers through the online nominations portal by December 13, 2023. Letters of Support are confidential—neither the nominator nor the nominee will be able to view the contents of the letters.

  SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTS, listed below, should be submitted electronically to External Fellowships Advising at fellowships@stonybrook.edu.  

  1.) Completed SBU online application form, which will ask for:

  -Basic biographical and contact information.

  -Contact information for two recommenders who can attest to the candidate’s qualifications and research contributions to his/her field.

  2.) Research Summary: 1,000 words or less, not including citations with one figure allowed. Filename format is: LastName_FirstName-Summary.pdf. The research summary should:

  -Be written in the first person by the nominee.

  -Describe up to five of the nominee’s most significant scientific contributions and research accomplishments from their postdoctoral career; doctoral work should be mentioned only if highly notable or relevant to the nominee’s accomplishments as a postdoctoral researcher.

  -Include key results, their impact on the nominee’s field of study, and the nominee’s specific role in the described work (especially where the nominee is involved in large collaborations).

  -Be written to be accessible to another scientist working in their overarching disciplinary category (e.g. Life Sciences) but not in their specific field of study (e.g. Neuroscience).

  -Exclude information about the nominee’s positions, awards, and service activities, or other information contained in the CV.

  -Include a brief description of how the nominee sees the current project progressing in the future.

  -What are the next steps for the project, and how will the key discoveries made during their postdoctoral career propel their research field forward?

  3.) Full-text published papers or filed patents representing the nominee’s best work (four publications maximum). Filename format is: LastName_FirstName-Pub1.pdf, and so forth.

  -Each publication should not be larger than 10MB. 

  -Work published by the nominee during graduate training will not be considered in this part of the nomination materials.

  -Papers must be reviewed and published or in press—submitted manuscripts will not be considered.

  4.) Professional Service and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement: 1 page or less. The file should be labeled: LastName_FirstName-DEI.pdf.

  Topics to discuss include, but are not limited to, the following:

  -Teaching and Mentoring: Commitment to teaching and mentoring students, especially those of broadly diverse demographics and/or social backgrounds;

  -Collaboration and Leadership: Involvement or leadership in committees, task force groups, professional societies, and organizations;

  -Service, Engagement, and/or Outreach: A record of community engagement or outreach activities (e.g. volunteer activities, communicating science to the public, etc.);

  -Research: Current and/or planned research relevant to underserved populations or inequalities, or issues relevant to DEI, such as race, gender, sexuality, health disparities, human rights, educational access, ability, etc.

  5.) Curriculum vitae: It is strongly encouraged that nominees follow the format shown in this example CV to ensure that all required information is included. The file should be labeled: LastName_FirstName-CV.pdf.

  There is no page limit for the CV, but reviewers appreciate using as few pages as possible to encompass the required information.

  The following information must be included in the nominee’s CV:

  -Name, current institution(s), and position title

  -Education and training, including doctoral and postdoctoral training and/or residency.  NOTE: Please include names of previous advisors.

  -Employment history.

  -Honors and awards, including granting organization and years in which they were received.

  -All peer-reviewed publications from entire research career: Please include published work or manuscripts in press authored during postdoctoral, doctoral, and undergraduate career

  DO NOT include manuscripts that are submitted or in preparation.

  Conference abstracts and proceedings should only be included if they are the primary way of disseminating new results in the nominee’s field, such as in computer science and mathematics.

  Select patents and patent applications: Include the patent title, a 1 to 2 sentence synopsis, and the year submitted / approved.

  -Research grants:

  List funding, if any, for ongoing and completed projects on which the nominee is a PI or a co-PI.

  Include name of funding mechanism, funder, and amount.

  For grants on which the nominee is a co-PI, include total amount of grant as well as amount awarded to nominee.

  -Scientific Leadership: include any significant roles in the greater academic community. This includes major editorial responsibilities, service on external committees, conference organization, technology licensing (or company start-up), public outreach activities, and institutional administrative responsibilities (e.g. departmental or student committee).

  -Invited talks and lectures, listing notable invited talks, including the year the talk was given and the inviting organization/institution.  

  6.) Rationale for nomination: 200 words or less written in the third person using language understandable to scientists outside your field. A postdoctoral supervisor can often provide useful insight or may write this on the applicant's behalf. Filename format is: LastName_FirstName-Rationale.pdf

Regeneron Prize for Creative Innovation

• Description

  The Regeneron Prize for Creative Innovation recognizes and honors excellence in biomedical science conducted by graduate students and postdocs with a top prize of $50,000. Applicants must submit a two-page proposal on their "dream" research idea, with CV and 2-3 representative publications. Applicants are strongly encouraged to think big and outside the box as reviewers want to see "dream" thinking if resources and technology were no limitation.

  Prize: One graduate student and one postdoctoral scholar will be selected to receive the Regeneron Prize for Outstanding Research each year.  Each prize will include a check for $50,000.  In addition, prize winners will receive a $5,000 donation to their home institution to help support their seminar series. Semi-finalists and finalists for each prize will be awarded $5,000 (approximately 8-10 applicants for each prize will be selected for this distinction).

• Nomination

  Campus Nomination Deadline: TBA

• How to Apply

  Required Application Materials:

  • The candidate's CV
  • 2-3 PDFs of representative publications by the candidate
  • The two-page research proposal (single-spaced) on a “dream” project: See Proposal Guidelines.

  Application materials are due to External Scholarships and Fellowships Office by the on-campus deadline. Applications should be sent via e-mail to fellowships@stonybrook.edu.

  If you think you will apply, however, please send us an email as soon as you can to let us know.

• Guidelines

  2017 Regeneron Prize for Creative Innovation Proposal Guidelines