Oxford has been invited to submit nominations to the annual Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom. Building on the US awards launched in 2007, innovative young scientists and engineers are sought across three subjects (full definitions on the Blavatnik website):
- Chemistry
- Physical Sciences & Engineering
- Life Sciences
One nominee in each disciplinary category will be awarded US$100,000 in unrestricted funds and be named a Blavatnik Laureate. In addition, two finalists in each category will each receive US$30,000 in unrestricted funds. The awards will be conferred at a ceremony in London in April 2022.
Oxford can only submit one nomination to each of the three subjects, therefore an internal selection process will run.
Eligibility
Nominees must:
- have been born in or after 1980 (42 years of age or younger)*
- 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 Kingdom
- be contracted at least 0.5 FTE at the University to be one of Oxford’s nominations (if they hold joint appointments at other institutions)
- currently conduct research as a principal investigator in one of the disciplinary categories in Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, or Chemistry
*Age-limit exceptions will be considered by the Blavatnik Family Foundation in exceptional circumstances. Please contact Kathleen Dolan as soon as possible, and no later than 26 April, if a departmental nominee requires this.
Internal selection process
Each department can submit one nomination per subject category (therefore a maximum total of 3) to the internal selection panel. The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists strive for nominee equality and diversity, and strongly encourage the nomination of women and members of other underrepresented groups in science and engineering.
Those selected by their department to apply should submit the following to research@mpls.ox.ac.uk by noon on Wednesday 28 April 2021:
- 200 word rationale for their nomination
- CV – an example of what to include can be found on the Blavatnik website
For the internal selection process, the CV should also briefly cover aspects of the Professional Service and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement such as (1) teaching and mentoring, (2) collaboration and leadership, (3) service, engagement and outreach, (4) current and/or planned research relevant to underserved populations or inequalities, or issues relevant to EDI. Selected Oxford nominees will need to provide this as a separate statement for the final application.
- 1,000 word research summary – this should be written to be accessible to another scientist working in the overarching disciplinary category (for example Life Sciences) but not in the nominee’s specific field of study (for example Neuroscience), and can include one figure.
Nominees will be informed of the outcome of the internal selection process by 10 May 2021. The deadline for full applications to the Blavatnik is 19 May 2021.
For queries about the internal selection process, please contact research@mpls.ox.ac.uk.
