Annual Award Opportunities
The following items represent a selection of prestigious prizes, fellowships, awards, and grants that may be of interest to BU faculty. Opportunities with an institutional nomination limit will be managed by the Office of Research. Opportunities marked “By Invitation Only” are institutionally limited or require an institutional endorsement. All invitation only opportunities will be managed by the Office of Research.
If you have questions about nominations, awards on this list, or have an opportunity you would like to bring to our attention, please contact research@bu.edu.
General
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- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships to Assist Research and Artistic Creation – The Foundation offers Fellowships to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, sciences, and history under the freest possible conditions and irrespective of race, color, or creed.
- John Templeton Foundation Grants – The Foundation offers grants in support of research and public engagement in our major Funding Areas. We invest in bold ideas from contrarian thinkers — ideas that cross disciplinary boundaries and challenge conventional assumptions.
- National Academies Awards and Honors – The Academies present a number of awards to recognize outstanding individual achievements in science, medicine, engineering, and more.
Nominate
- Dan David Prize – The Dan David Prize awards up to nine prizes of $300,000 each year to outstanding early and midcareer scholars and practitioners in the historical disciplines. The Prize is given in recognition of the winners’ contribution to the study of the past and to support their future endeavors.
- Volvo Environment Prize – Since the first award in 1990 the Volvo Environment Prize has become one of the scientific world’s most respected environmental prizes. Laureates represent all fields of environmental and sustainability studies and initiatives.
- World Food Prize – The World Food Prize is awarded for a specific, exceptionally significant, individual achievement that advances human development with a demonstrable increase in the quantity, quality, availability of, or access to food through creative interventions at any point within the full scope of the food system.
- American Academy of Arts & Sciences Membership – Existing members may submit nominations for new members via an annual call for nominations. Elected Academy members are world leaders in the arts and sciences, business, philanthropy, and public affairs. (By invitation only)
- John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity – The Kluge Prize recognizes and celebrates work of the highest quality and greatest impact that advances understanding of the human experience. (By invitation only)
- National Academy of Inventors – Existing NAI Fellows may submit nominations for new fellows. The NAI Fellows Program was established to highlight academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. (By invitation only)
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement Scialog Fellow – Scialog seeks to accelerate the work of 21st-century transformational science through research, dialog, and community. (By invitation only)
Arts
Nominate
- College Art Association Awards – With these annual awards, CAA seeks to honor individual artists, art historians, authors, curators, and critics whose accomplishments transcend their individual disciplines and contribute to the profession as a whole and to the world at large.
Chemistry
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- American Chemical Society grant, award, scholarship, and internship opportunities – ACS offers financial support programs for students, research teams, and faculty in pursuit of scientific study and discovery.
Humanities and Social Sciences
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- American Academy of Arts and Sciences Visiting Scholars Program – The Academy’s Visiting Scholars Program provided residential fellowships to postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
- American Antiquarian Society Fellowships – All American Antiquarian Society fellowships are designed to enable academic and independent scholars and advanced graduate students to spend an uninterrupted block of time doing research in the AAS library.
- American Council of Learned Societies Fellowships – The fellowship is open to early career untenured scholars who have earned a PhD in the humanities or humanistic social sciences.
- American Historical Association Awards and Grants – Through numerous awards, grants, and fellowship programs, the Association recognizes and supports a wide variety of notable historical work.
- American Philosophical Association Prizes and Fellowships – The APA offers a variety of prizes, awards, and fellowships throughout the calendar year.
- Archaeological Institute of America Grants and Awards – The AIA’s mission includes supporting and promoting archaeological research and its dissemination. To that end, the AIA offers a variety of scholarships, fellowships, and grants for excavation, research, publication, and site preservation.
- Association of American Geographers Grants and Prizes – The AAG offers a wide variety of awards and prizes to all levels of students, scholars, and professionals.
- Classical Association of the Middle West and South Awards and Scholarships – The Classical Association of the Middle West and South offers a number of awards, grants, and scholarships.
- The Getty Foundation – The Getty Foundation provides a variety of funding opportunities and awards for visual art and cultural heritage.
- Modern Language Association Honors and Awards – The MLA offers a variety of awards focused on literacy and the humanities.
- Society for Classical Studies Awards and Fellowships – The Society for Classical Studies offers a variety of awards and fellowships for excellence in the field of Classical studies in many applications.
- Society for Social Work and Research Fellowship – The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Fellows are members who have served with distinction to advance the mission of the Society — to advance, disseminate, and translate research that addresses issues of social work practice and policy and promotes a diverse, equitable and just society.
- US Department of State Fulbright Programs – The Fulbright Program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide and has provided approximately 400,000 participants with the opportunity to study, teach, or conduct research in each other’s’ countries and exchange ideas.
Nominate
- Ellis Island Honors Society Medal of Honor – The Medal is presented annually to those who have shown an outstanding commitment to serving our nation either professionally, culturally, or civically, among other criteria.
- Holberg Prize – The Holberg Prize is awarded annually to scholars who have made outstanding contributions to research in the humanities, social sciences, law or theology.
Law & Business
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- American Psychology-Law Society Awards, Grants, and Funding – The American Psychology-Law Society offers a wide variety of funding opportunities and prizes throughout the year.
Nominate
- Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Fellowship – INFORMS Fellows are examples of outstanding lifetime achievement in operations research and the management sciences. They have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments and made significant contributions to the advancement of OR/MS over a period of time.
Math
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- American Mathematical Society Prizes and Awards – The AMS is pleased to recognize individuals and programs for their contributions to the mathematical sciences and to the mathematics community.
- American Statistical Association Awards and Recognition – The ASA’s extensive awards program recognizes statisticians who have made outstanding contributions through research, teaching, consulting, and service to the association and statistical profession.
- Institute of Mathematical Statistics Fellowships – IMS Fellowships recognize IMS members that have demonstrated distinction in research in statistics or probability, by publication of independent work of merit or whose leadership has contributed greatly to statistics or probability.
- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Prizes, Awards, Lectures, and Fellows – These prizes recognize applied mathematicians and computational scientists for their research contributions, lifetime achievements, and service to the applied mathematical sciences community.
Nominate
- Institute of Mathematical Statistics Fellowships – IMS Fellowships recognize IMS members that have demonstrated distinction in research in statistics or probability, by publication of independent work of merit or whose leadership has contributed greatly to statistics or probability.
Medicine and Healthcare
Nominate
- Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine Awards – Each year the Alliance and its charter associations honor members of the academic internal medicine community for outstanding leadership, dedication, and service to the profession and the organization through the AAIM Awards Program.
- American Occupational Therapy Association Awards and Recognition – Each year, AOTA recognizes and honors colleagues who have made significant contributions to the profession of occupational therapy.
- American Physical Therapy Association Honors and Awards – The APTA Honors & Awards program recognizes outstanding achievements by members in the areas of overall accomplishment, education, practice and service, publications, research, and academic excellence.
- American Society for Clinical Investigation Membership – Nominations of eligible individuals must be proposed (and, in the case of Active and Foreign Associate nominations, seconded) by ASCI members.
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Awards – The ASLHA offers a variety of awards that accept nominations in the spring semester.
- Association of American Medical Colleges Awards – Through its prestigious awards program, the AAMC recognizes and celebrates the members of our community who are making significant advances in medical education, cutting-edge patient care, groundbreaking research, and outstanding community engagement.
- Association of American Physicians – AAP Membership is via nomination only. To be eligible for nomination, you must be nominated by a member and seconded by a member.
- National Athletic Trainers Association Honors and Awards – Any NATA member may nominate a colleague for one of the association’s national honors or awards. Nominations are from Aug 1 to Sept 15.
- Society of Behavioral Medicine – SBM annually provides awards recognizing outstanding achievement and contribution to the field of behavioral medicine. Fellow status is a distinction conferred by SBM on full members in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of the science and practice of behavioral medicine.
STEM
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- African Scientific Institute Fellowship – ASI Fellows is an international honorary recognition of accomplished Black scientists and technologists throughout Africa and the African Diaspora in the areas of “hard-science and technology.”
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Sloan Research Fellowship -The Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists (in chemistry, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, physics, or a related field) and scholars of outstanding promise. (By invitation only)
- American Physical Society Prizes – APS prizes & awards recognize outstanding achievements in research, education and public service. With few exceptions, they are open to all members of the scientific community in the U.S. and abroad.
- American Society for Neurochemistry Awards – The American Society for Neurochemistry offers a variety of awards through the calendar year.
- Association for Psychological Science Awards and Honors – APS honors members in the earliest stages of their careers as well as accomplished leaders with the field’s most prestigious awards and recognitions.
- Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Grants and Prizes – The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation awards several prestigious prizes to physicians, scientists, and public citizens. BBRF also offers grants to both young and senior investigators.
- Geological Society of America Honors and Awards – GSA supports a number of awards and medals to recognize excellence. On this page you will find a description of each award in addition to nominating information.
- National Science Foundation CAREER – The NSF offers this award in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
- Society for Epidemiologic Research Awards – The Society for Epidemiologic Research recognizes members of the organization for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the field through multiple SER awards presented at the annual meeting.
- Society for Personality and Social Psychology Awards – SPSP makes available a wide variety of awards and grants for members and those in the personality and social psychology community more broadly across all levels of seniority.
- Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research Awards – SPER’s awards honor and recognize members who exemplify outstanding service or contributions to the field of pediatric and perinatal epidemiologic research.
- US Department of Defense Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship – The Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) is the Department of Defense’s most prestigious single-investigator award and supports basic research with the potential for transformative impact.
- US Department of Energy Awards – The Office of Science is privileged to work with the most talented scientists and engineers in the country to advance the Office’s mission. The Office of Science bestows several awards to recognize this talent at different stages of an individual’s research career.
Nominate
- American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship – AAAS Fellows are a distinguished cadre of scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching, and technology, to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.
- American Geophysical Union Fellowships – The mission of the AGU College of Fellows is to foster excellence, integrity, and interdisciplinary collaboration in the Earth and space sciences, provide expert and strategic advice to AGU on global scientific issues, and support the professional development and engagement of scientists at all career stages and from all backgrounds.
- Breakthrough Prize – The Breakthrough Prize recognizes outstanding achievements in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics.
- Ecological Society of America Awards – The ESA offers a variety of awards for both junior and senior scholars with a summer/fall nomination window.
- Kavli Prize – The Kavli Prizes are awarded in three areas: astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience – the largest, the smallest, and the most complex.
- Lasker Foundation Awards – The Lasker Awards program was created in 1945 by Albert and Mary Lasker to shine a spotlight on fundamental biological discoveries and clinical advances that improve human health, and to draw attention to the importance of public support of science.
- Optical Society of America Fellowship – Existing OSA Fellows may submit nominations for new fellows. These OSA members have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics through distinguished contributions to education, research, engineering, business, and society.
- Royal Society of London Fellowship – The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship made up of the most eminent scientists, engineers, and technologists from the UK and the Commonwealth. Fellows and Foreign Members are elected for life through a peer review process on the basis of excellence in science.
- American Psychological Association Scholarships, Grants, and Awards – The American Psychological Association offers a wide variety of funding opportunities and prizes throughout the year. (By invitation only)
- Japan Prize – The Japan Prize is awarded annually to scientists and engineers from around the world who have made significant contributions to the advancement of science and technology, thereby furthering the cause of peace and prosperity of mankind. The prize in annually awarded in two rotating categories. (By invitation only)