Nature has announced a new awards programme:
The two annual awards will recognize inspirational early-career female researchers and those who have worked to champion young women's and girls' participation in science. By rewarding and celebrating these achievements, we hope the programmes will contribute to a positive shift towards the equity sorely needed in the research community.
The first is called the Inspiring Science Award and will honour female scientists who have completed their PhD within the past ten years and have made an exceptional contribution to scientific discovery, as reflected in publications, poster and conference presentations, leadership, tutoring and mentoring. Candidates can be nominated by anyone in their research institute, and we encourage nominations from around the globe and across all subject areas. Our independent judging process will ensure that those working under adverse circumstances or in regions where there is limited access to scientific literature will not be unfairly disadvantaged.
The second prize, the Innovating Science Award, recognizes individuals or organizations that have led a grass-roots initiative to support increased access to, or interest in, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for girls and young women around the globe. This backs our belief that supporting early interest in STEM worldwide is a crucial step towards sustainably increasing the representation of women in these subjects. Candidates for this award can nominate themselves.
Nominations opened on 9 April and will close on 11 June 2018. A longlist of ten nominees for each award will be announced on 24 July, and a shortlist of five will be announced on 4 September. Both awards are run by Nature Research in partnership with The Estée Lauder Companies. (Full details of the criteria and nomination processes are available at nature.com/researchawards.)
The winners of the awards will be announced in October. They will receive grants of US\$10,000 to build on their efforts, and an invitation to an award ceremony. The Inspiring Science Award winner will also receive a grant of up to \$5,200 to support open-access publication of their research, and the Innovating Science Award winner will receive up to \$5,200 to support an event that showcases their initiative.
There is more information about the new awards online.