WICB Junior Award for Excellence in Research

About the Award

Nominations/Applications for all 2026 awards are now closed.

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The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) presents the WICB Junior Award for Excellence in Research to a woman or non-binary scientist in the early stage of their independent career who is making exceptional scientific contributions to cell biology, developing a strong independent research program, and demonstrating the potential for continued scientific achievement and leadership.

Award Details

The winner receives a plaque, complimentary Cell Bio meeting registration and abstract submission, a $1,000 prize, and an invitation to speak at the meeting.

Who is Eligible

Candidates may be nominated more than once, and members of the WICB Committee are not eligible. Nominators, self-nominators must be ASCB members.

How to Apply

Candidates may either self-apply or be nominated.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

If nominating someone

1. Letter describing the candidate’s background, contributions, and qualifications for receiving the award, no longer than 2 pages.
2. Letter of support also describing the above, no longer than 2 pages.

If self-applying, or once nominated

1. Narrative statement describing your background, contributions, qualifications for receiving the award, and demonstrated commitment to ASCB’s values, no longer than 2 pages.
2. A letter of support endorsing your application, no longer than 2 pages.
3. Biosketch (NIH format or similar) no longer than 5 pages.

Application materials should comment on the candidate’s:

• Strong on-going research program
• Potential for continued high level research
• Leadership in their field or in the scientific community
• Career impact upon receiving this award

Upload .pdf files, 1MB size limit per file.

Please Note

1. ASCB wants to ensure that the pool of award candidates is as diverse and inclusive as possible. The demographic questions are for internal reporting only and are not viewable by award reviewers. The questions are not mandatory, however we would appreciate your responses so that we can assess our level of inclusivity.
2. As a founder of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) ASCB does not use journal impact factors or other journal-based metrics in the evaluation process for its awards. ASCB looks at an individual’s research contributions and impact on the field, rather than the prestige of the journals where work is published.

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