Submit nominations for Faculty Distinguished Research Award and Innovator of the Year

It’s that time again! The Office of Research and Technology Management is accepting nominations for the Faculty Distinguished Researcher Award and for Innovator of the Year. Awardees will be recognized during Innovation Week 2024, which is set to take place Oct. 28 through Nov. 1. 

To nominate someone for a Faculty Distinguished Research Award, email materials per the below outlines to Jennifer Capretta, executive director of operations, at jxc1434@case.edu by July 31. Incomplete nomination packages will not be reviewed.

To nominate someone for Innovator of the Year, complete this form by Aug. 23. 

About the Faculty Distinguished Research Award

The Faculty Distinguished Research Award was created to recognize the outstanding research and scholarly contributions of the faculty at Case Western Reserve University to their fields of study and to the research reputation of the institution. It is anticipated that no more than four Faculty Distinguished Research Awards will be named in any one year. The president, provost and vice president for research will present the award annually to members of the university research community to recognize their outstanding contributions to knowledge creation, scholarship and/or artistic creativity in their areas of expertise. Awardees will be expected to have established outstanding national and international reputations for their scholarly or creative contributions.

Description of the Award

The award is intended to recognize outstanding achievement in the area of expertise of the faculty member. The award will consist of a plaque and a monetary award of $10,000 provided as discretionary funds to further support research.

Eligibility

The Faculty Distinguished Research Award will be open to all active, full-time members of the university faculty, including department chairs and those in other administrative positions. All disciplines practiced at CWRU are eligible, including those (like the humanities and the performing arts) that do not primarily focus their scholarly or creative production in the publication of journal articles.

Selection Criteria

The award is given to individuals who have made a significant contribution to scholarship or artistic creativity. This contribution could be a long-term, cumulative contribution or a single, particularly insightful idea, experiment, application or interpretation. All research, scholarly, and artistic contributions will be considered, but an emphasis will be placed on work undertaken while employed at CWRU. It is anticipated that no more than four awards will be made annually.

Nomination Procedures

Each year, the senior vice president for research will issue a call for nominations. The deans of the schools/college will be responsible for candidate nomination within their schools/college. Each school/college may submit two new or updated nominations each year. Deans are strongly encouraged to consider equity and inclusion when choosing nominees. Schools with more than 100 tenured and tenure-track faculty members may submit an additional nomination for each additional 100 tenured and tenure-track faculty members. The selection committee also may reconsider nominees from previous years.

A complete nomination package must include:

1. A letter signed by the dean of the school/college indicating why the individual is being nominated, summarizing the candidate’s research and scholarly or artistic achievements, commenting on the letters of support, and outlining the national and international significance of the candidate’s work. The significance of other major research honors and awards received by the candidate (if any) should be discussed.
2. A current curriculum vitae of the candidate. It is strongly preferred that nominees not be informed of their nominations so that the award can be a surprise. Please try to obtain the CV without telling the candidate about the nomination.
3. Three letters of support from scholars in the candidate’s discipline, commenting on the importance and impact of the candidate’s work nationally and internationally. These letters should be from faculty outside the applicant’s home department.

A selection committee chaired by the Associate President for Research shall choose the award recipients. The committee shall include previous recipients of the Faculty Distinguished Research Award.