The Award
The Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award annually recognizes outstanding scholarly accomplishments of members of the University of Pittsburgh’s faculty. Up to six awards will be made, with three at each of two career stages: The committee, will at its discretion make awards, and have previously made up to six awards, with half at each of the two career stages.
- Senior Scholar Awardees will have compiled a substantial and continuing record of outstanding research and scholarly activity. Nominees must have achieved preeminence in their field and be of international reputation, as evidenced in letters of support from national and international leaders in the field. Referees cannot be mentors or current colleagues of the nominees.
- Junior Scholar Awardees will have demonstrated great potential as scholars as evidenced by the exceptional quality of their independent contributions and will have achieved national or international recognition. Candidates for this award are required to have received their highest degree no more than 12 years before the time of nomination.
Nominations will be considered within three broad categories:
- Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Related Professions
- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
- Medicine and Health Sciences
Each awardee will receive a cash prize of $2,000 and a grant of $3,000 to support their teaching and research. All persons selected for this award will be honored publicly.
2024 Guidelines
Eligibility
Any tenured or tenure-stream, full-time faculty member who has served at least three years at the University of Pittsburgh is eligible to be nominated for a Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award. Junior Scholar Awardees may be nominated for the Senior Scholar Award, but Senior Scholar Awardees may not be nominated for a second Senior Scholar Award. Individuals may be nominated no more than three times in a five-year period.
Nominations
Any group of three or more faculty members may submit a nomination at upitt.infoready4.com. Completed nominations are due by Friday, October 13, 2023.
You will be asked to submit the following information through InfoReady:
- Narrative summary of the research achievements of nominee (200-word max);
- Description of nominator’s relationship to the nominee (300-word max.)
- Internal letter of nomination (2-page max). Please note that the internal letter of nomination must have multiple signers;
- Bio of nominee (1-page max);
- Biosketch or CV (Optional) of the nominee;
- Media blurb/citation (20-word max) *if you are awarded this would go along with your photo;
- Short narrative on the nature and significance of contribution, written for a general audience, i.e., avoiding jargon, and where appropriate, explaining the broader context of the area of the contributions to highlight their significance. (150-word max);
- Names, brief 50-word professional descriptions, and current electronic addresses of three (minimum) to five (maximum) referees who will be asked for letters of reference. Please note that at least three references must be external. Relevant professional relationships with the nominee must be indicated but referees normally should not be graduate or post-doctoral mentors. For more information on references, please view the FAQ’s document.
For questions about nominations, you may contact Mandy Singh (dms281@pitt.edu) or Shari Manges (sdm43@pitt.edu) in the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Research.
Nominations from a previous year may be reactivated through InfoReady. Renomination will require re-entry of elements from the list above, but a case marked as a renomination does not require new references. Individuals submitting a renomination are asked to include a listing of recent accomplishments by the nominee since the last nomination. Instructions on the nomination site will allow references from the prior year to be reposted. A biosketch may be submitted, and a fresh internal letter of support can be uploaded that covers recent accomplishments (2-page max).
Note that while nominations from a prior year are welcome, a reactivation rather than a thorough revision of the packet might not make as strong an impression on the review/awards committee.
Awards Committee
The Awards Committee is appointed and chaired by the Senior Vice Chancellor for Research (non-voting). It consists of faculty with outstanding research records from across the University.