Career Achievement in Research Award

Objective: To recognize a faculty member for outstanding career achievements in research and/or creative activity.

Career Research: Tenured faculty who have had independent academic careers of more than 13 years and have held a faculty appointment at Iowa State University for at least five academic years as of January 1 of the award year have had independent academic careers of more than 13 years and who have been employed by ISU for a minimum of 5 years. An independent academic career is defined as the start of a tenure-track faculty position. Distinguished Professors are not eligible for this award. Recipients must be ISU employees at the time of the College Awards Ceremony.

Amount of award: $500

Number of awards: One per year, although the College of Health and Human Sciences Honors and Awards Committee reserves the right not to select any recipient in a given year.

Criteria: Documented evidence of outstanding research/creative accomplishments and impact of their work on their discipline as evaluated by peers and experts in their field. Outstanding national and international recognition in the academic community. Evidence of a substantial positive impact of their mentorship and/or teaching on undergraduate students, graduate students and/or postdoctoral associates. The candidates will be judged by the body of their work since the start of their independent academic career.

Guidelines:

  1. Submissions must be in .pdf form and submitted via email to chsaward-submit@iastate.edu by 11:59pm on the first Tuesday in February. Please name your PDF file “Award title, Last name of nominee” before submitting it (ex: Career Achievement in Research, Lee).
  2. Complete the Nomination Form.
  3. All letters should be on relevant letterhead, addressed to the College of Health and Human Sciences Faculty and Staff Awards Committee, and signed by letter writer. Letters should be written specifically for the nomination.
  4. Nominating letter: A key component to a strong nomination packet is a synthesis of the nominee’s accomplishments and their impact on the nominee’s discipline. Begin with a nominating letter of no more than three pages, describing why this person deserves the award for which he/she/they are being nominated. This statement should be prepared by an individual with a reputation for prestigious research. Cite specific examples of relevant accomplishments, including but not limited to publications, presentations, grants, and programming. Give examples of recognition that demonstrate impact of these accomplishments on the nominee’s discipline. Include all major accomplishments since the start of the nominee’s independent career. For nominees who have spent considerable time in non-academic positions prior to joining the academy, please describe their responsibilities and relevant accomplishments and recognition while in those positions. If relevant, this letter should address the norms in the field for the numbers and types of publications expected. Please discuss the quality of the journals in which the nominee has published and include a list of the two to three most prestigious journals or publication venues in their field. Discuss and document the nominee’s success in grantsmanship (sources and amounts) and the norms for grantsmanship in the nominee’s field.
  5. Curriculum vitae: Include the nominee’s current curriculum vitae not to exceed 25 pages. It may be appropriate here to include a list of current and/or former students with information about their current employment or other research/creative activities.
  6. Colleague letter: Include a letter from one colleague of the nominee who is in a position to comment on his/her/their research/creative activities. Ideally, these colleagues should have national/international reputations for excellence in research.
  7. Expert letter: Include a letter from one expert in the nominee’s field at another institution who is knowledgeable about the nominee’s work and how it has been evaluated by peers. Ideally, these colleagues should have national/international reputations for excellence in research. Be sure to provide a short paragraph summarizing the qualification of this external reference provided by the nominee.
  8. Summary of impact of teaching/mentoring, extension, and/or service activities on students and scholars: A separate document that clearly describes the nominee’s impact with no more than 1 page. Examples include the nominee’s contribution to the research community, undergraduate/graduate/post-doctoral associate training, grant writing, service activities for the department, university, and international professional experiences.  This is especially important for career achievement awards.