2023-2024 UIC Research and Scholarship Annual Award Competition
Overview of the competition Heading link
The Research and Scholarship Annual Award competition celebrates the efforts and commitment of individuals who are making exceptional progress advancing knowledge in their areas of research and scholarship. These individuals inspire and promote continued excellence at UIC.
- One Distinguished Researcher and one Rising Star Awardee will be selected from each of the following categories:
- Basic Life Sciences
- Clinical Sciences
- Natural Sciences & Engineering
- Social Sciences
- One Distinguished Scholar and one Rising Star Awardee will be selected from the following category:
- Humanities, Arts, Design, & Architecture
- One Postdoctoral Scholar of the Year will be selected.
- One Faculty Mentor of the Year will be selected.
The Distinguished Awards will be given to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in their fields, whereas the Rising Star and Postdoctoral Scholar of the Year Awards will be bestowed on individuals who show exceptional promise to become future leaders. The Faculty Mentor of the Year Award will recognize an individual who serves as an outstanding knowledgeable, empathetic guide and leverages their experience to inspire and support mentees in achieving their goals. All awardees will be recognized at a ceremony in spring.
Note: Nominations must be submitted through the OVCR online portal.
Award Information Heading link
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Important Dates
- Notices of Intent to Nominate (optional, not binding): November 8, 2023, 11:59 PM Central Time
- Nominations and Letters of Support: December 20, 2023, 11:59 PM Central Time
- Awards announced: March, 2024
- Award celebration: April, 2024
Eligibility
Nominee eligibility
- All faculty (i.e. tenured, tenure-track, research-track, clinical-track, including research assistant professors) with a full-time appointment at UIC may be nominated for Rising Star, Distinguished Researcher/Scholar or Faculty Mentor, pending additional criteria below.
- All faculty nominees must have been in a faculty role at UIC for at least the past 3 consecutive years as of the nomination deadline date.
- Updated 12/6/2023: Rising Star nominees must be within 12 years of their terminal degree (no earlier than 2011), with at least the last 3 years in a faculty role at UIC. (Historically, Rising Star eligibility has been limited to individuals within 10 years of their terminal degree. Due to the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the eligibility window will be relaxed starting in 2022 and gradually phased back to 10 years. Please see the table below for the eligibility window for each year.)
- Distinguished Researcher/Scholar nominees will be evaluated on their full body of work, with emphasis placed on significant contributions made over the past 3 years.
- For the Postdoctoral Scholar award, a nominee must have been appointed as a postdoc at UIC for at least the past 1 year as of the nomination deadline date. Postdoctoral Scholar of the Year must have a current appointment as a Postdoctoral Research Associate or Postdoctoral Fellow (or equivalent).
Nominator eligibility
Nominations can be submitted by anyone from the UIC community who is knowledgeable about a successful UIC researcher/scholar.
- Self-nominations are accepted for the Rising Star, Distinguished Researcher/Scholar, and Postdoctoral Scholar of the Year Awards. However, reviewers tend to view self-nominations as less compelling than those submitted by an enthusiastic colleague.
- Nominations for the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award must be submitted by a current trainee (e.g. postdoc, graduate student, etc.). No self-nominations will be accepted for this award type.
Awards
- One Distinguished Researcher and one Rising Star Awardee will be selected from each of the following categories:
- Basic Life Sciences
- Clinical Sciences
- Natural Sciences & Engineering
- Social Sciences
- One Distinguished Scholar and one Rising Star Awardee will be selected from the following category:
- Humanities, Arts, Design, & Architecture
- One Postdoctoral Scholar of the Year will be selected.
- One Faculty Mentor of the Year will be selected.
The Distinguished Awards will be given to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in their fields, whereas the Rising Star and Postdoctoral Scholar of the Year Awards will be bestowed on individuals who show exceptional promise to become future leaders. The Faculty Mentor of the Year Award will recognize an individual who serves as an outstanding knowledgeable, empathetic guide and leverages their experience to inspire and support mentees in achieving their goals. All awardees will be recognized at a ceremony in spring.
Nomination Process
All documents will be uploaded in the nomination portal. Nominators will request and collect two letters of support and will include these in the application package. We strongly encourage nominators to confirm that references are willing to provide letters before the December 20, 2023 deadline.
Notice of Intent to Nominate
Nominators are encouraged to submit a Notice of Intent by November 8, 2023. This notice is a short web form, asking only for the name, affiliation and basic contact information of the nominator and nominee. The Notice of Intent is optional and is not binding, but it greatly aids the Office of Research Development in planning for the review process. Submit a Notice of Intent here.
Application Checklist
- Cover form — enter information directly in the nomination portal
- Narrative statement (2 pages) — upload document in nomination portal
- Nominee’s CV (or Trainee outcome summary) (5 pages) — upload document in nomination portal
- Letter of support 1 (2 pages) — upload document in nomination portal
- Letter of support 2 (2 pages) — upload document in nomination portal
- Optional supporting materials (5 pages) — upload document in nomination portal
Important Dates
- Submit a notice of intent to nominate (optional, not binding) by November 8, 2023
- Submit a nomination statement, nominee’s CV, optional other supporting documents, and 2 letters of support by December 20, 2023
Special Instructions for Faculty Mentor of the Year
- The narrative statement should describe the activities, philosophies and characteristics of the nominee that make this person a truly exceptional mentor to trainees.
- No CV is required. In place of the CV, the nominator should upload a list of previous trainees and past trainee outcomes, over the last 10 years.
- The 2 required letters of support must be written by current or former mentees/trainees (e.g. postdoc, graduate student, etc.) other than the nominator.
- Additional letters in support of a candidate for Faculty Mentor of the Year award can be included in the optional supplemental information document (5-page limit).
Apply here.
Application Information Heading link
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Proposal Guidelines
Nominator Eligibility
Nominations can be submitted by anyone from the UIC community who is knowledgeable about a successful UIC researcher/scholar.
- Self-nominations are accepted for the Rising Star, Distinguished Researcher/Scholar, and Postdoctoral Scholar of the Year Awards. However, reviewers tend to view self-nominations as less compelling than those submitted by an enthusiastic colleague.
- Nominations for the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award must be submitted by a current trainee (e.g. postdoc, graduate student, etc.). No self-nominations will be accepted for this award type.
Nomination Content
Nominators must provide the information below:
- Narrative Statement – This document should be 2 pages in length, single-spaced, 12-point font, with 1-inch margins
- Nominations will be reviewed by multidisciplinary panels, therefore, care should be taken to explain achievements in ways that can be appreciated by non-specialists in the field. For example, consider providing context for the individual’s publication record, such as the typical number of publications for the given career stage, the prestige of the journals, conventions for authorship in the individual’s (sub)field, etc. Make clear how the individual’s work compares to what is typical for someone in his/her (sub)field and career stage.
- For Distinguished awards, nominators should describe the impact of the individual’s work over his/her career, with a focus on one or two accomplishments and major breakthroughs achieved within the past three years. Nominators may also describe how these research accomplishments have contributed to the research excellence at UIC.
- For Rising Star and Postdoctoral Scholar awards, nominators should describe the impact of the individual’s work so far, with a focus on potential to become a leader in his/her field in the relatively near future. Nominators may also describe the potential impact on research excellence at UIC.
- For Faculty Mentor awards, nominators should describe the extent to which nominee has demonstrated outstanding knowledgeable, empathetic mentorship and has leveraged their experience to inspire and support mentees in achieving their goals.
- Nominee’s curriculum vitae or resume. Items to include as appropriate to the nominee’s field of research:
- For Rising Star and Postdoctoral Scholar nominees, date of PhD or other terminal degree;
- Include the dates and type of appointment for all listed institutions;
- List of completed, current and pending extramural research/scholarly support with a 1- 2 sentence description – including total project cost – of each project and the nominee’s role in the project (i.e. principal investigator, co-principal investigator);
- Presentation of research/scholarship in professional settings such as a conference speaker/lecturer (please indicate keynote, plenary, or invited) or installation/exhibit;
- List of relevant publications (within the past 10 years);
- List of outreach and engaged/public scholarship. Note: The resume/CV may not exceed 5 pages.
- For the Faculty Mentor of the Year award, no CV is required. In place of the CV, the nominator should provide a list of previous trainees and past trainee outcomes, over the last 10 years.
- Two letters of support from individuals other than the nominator who are familiar with the nominee’s research/scholarship and who have expertise necessary for judging the nominee’s contributions. Writers should note their relationship to the nominee.
- Nominators will collect the 2 letters of support and upload these documents to the application portal. Letters of support are due at the same time as the rest of the nomination package (December 20, 2023, at 11:59 PM Central Time).
- Letters can be either internal or external to UIC; however, reviewers tend to place higher value on external letters, especially for Distinguished Researcher nominees.
- Although letters may come from former or current collaborators, reviewers expect letters from impartial leaders in the field who have not collaborated with the nominee – this is especially true for Distinguished Researcher nominees.
- For Faculty Mentor of the Year award, the letters of support must come from current or former mentees/trainees (e.g. postdoc, graduate student, etc.) other than the nominator.
- Each letter of support should be no more than 2 pages in length, single-spaced, 12-point font, with 1-inch margins.
- OPTIONAL – No more than 5 pages of other materials supporting the candidate’s achievements, e.g., press clippings, award announcements, or news items. Additional letters in support of a candidate for Faculty Mentor of the Year award can be included in this document. Please collate and upload as a single PDF file.
Nominators are encouraged to submit a Notice of Intent by November 8, 2023 at 11:59 pm Central Time. This notice is a short web form, asking only for the name, affiliation and basic contact information of the nominator and nominee. The Notice of Intent is optional and is not binding, but it greatly aids the Office of Research Development in planning for the review process.
Nominations (including letters of support) will be accepted through December 20, 2023 at 11:59 pm Central Time.
Submit your Notice of Intent or Nomination here.
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Review process
UIC faculty members will review nominations for all categories and make award recommendations to the Vice Chancellor for Research based on the following selection criteria:
Distinguished Researcher/Scholar, Rising Star and Postdoctoral Scholar Award Types
- Extent to which nominee’s recent research/scholarship charts (or has the potential to chart) significant advances to the field (i.e. new innovation, discovery, or methodology)
- Extent to which nominee’s recent research/scholarship has been recognized by
- Colleagues in national and/or international venues such as professional conferences or symposia (i.e. presented, cited, or invited to keynote), installations or exhibits and/or
- Extramurally funded research support
- Publications in peer reviewed journals
- Outreach and engaged/public scholarship
- Extent to which nominee’s recent scholarship has contributed (or has the potential to contribute) to applications beyond research journals and academia (such as impact to society directly).
- Extent to which letters of support reflect a significant impact of the nominee’s research contributions in the respective field(s) of research.
Faculty Mentor Award Type
- Extent to which the activities, philosophies and characteristics of the nominee make this person a truly exceptional mentor to trainees.
- Extent to which letters of support reflect a significant positive impact of the nominee’s mentorship on trainees.
Pending review of nominations, the VCR reserves the right to not make an award in any given category.
Awards Celebration Heading link
The Vice Chancellor for Research cordially invites all Distinguished Researchers and Scholars and Rising Star, Postdoctoral Scholar and Faculty Mentor Awardees to attend a celebration in their honor at the Field Museum of Natural History.
Date and details forthcoming.
Rising Star Eligibility Windows Heading link
| For Rising Star nominations due in XXXX … | … nominees must be within XX years of their terminal degree… | ... (that is, terminal degree received no earlier than XXXX) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12 | 2010 |
| 2023 | 12 | 2011 |
| 2024 | 12 | 2012 |
| 2025 | 11 | 2014 |
| 2026 | 11 | 2015 |
| 2027 | 11 | 2016 |
| 2028 | 10 | 2018 |
| 2029 and thereafter | 10 | [10 years before year of nomination] |
