Nominations for Distinguished Research Awards

Award Nominations

Nominations are currently being accepted for 2023 recipients through December 1, 2023.

Eligibility

Recipients are restricted to the Purdue West Lafayette campus.

Investigators are eligible to receive only one of the university-wide research awards during their career – the Lu Ann Aday Award, the Arden L. Bement Jr. Award, or the Herbert Newby McCoy Award.

Arden L. Bement Jr. Award

Any faculty member who has made a recent major impact in the pure or applied science or engineering is eligible for the award, regardless of college/school or departmental affiliation. The Arden L. Bement Jr. Award is intended to honor a recent past achievement(s) of major scientific impact; the award is not a “lifetime achievement” award.

Herbert Newby McCoy Award

Any student or faculty member who has made a recent major impact in the natural sciences is eligible for the award, regardless of college/school or departmental affiliation. The McCoy Award is intended to honor a recent past achievement(s) of major scientific impact; the award is not a “lifetime achievement” award.

Lu Ann Aday Award

Any faculty member who has made a recent major impact in research, scholarship, or creative work in the humanities or social sciences is eligible for the award, regardless of college/school or departmental affiliation. The Lu Ann Aday Award is intended to honor a recent past achievement(s) of major impact; the award is not a “lifetime achievement” award.

Nomination Instructions

For questions or additional information, contact Lawrence Buja at lbuja@purdue.edu. Nomination packets should be submitted electronically as a single PDF file to Lawrence Buja (lbuja@purdue.edu). If a nominee is not selected, nominations can be resubmitted for multiple years with updated documents as needed.

1. A concise summary statement, not more than two pages in length, that describes the impact and significance of the nominee’s recent work justifying nomination for the award.
2. The nominee’s curriculum vitae.
3. Three external letters supporting the impact and significance of the nominee’s contribution to the area of research recognized by the Award.
4. A brief statement of the letter writers’ expertise, distinctions, and relationship, if any, to the nominee.
5. Any additional supporting information that the nominator considers to be significant.

Review Process

A selection committee consisting of distinguished faculty including past award winners is appointed by the Executive Vice President for Research.

To help the selection committee appreciate the impact and significance of the nominee’s work, nominators (or their representatives) will be invited to make a brief presentation and answer questions during the selection committee meeting. This presentation carries substantial weight in the selection process as it allows committee members to more fully understand the impact of the work.

The committee’s final recommendation is submitted to the Executive Vice President for Research for approval.