Prizes and Awards

Background:

• Now entering its ninth year, the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom recognise and celebrate the United Kingdom’s most innovative and promising faculty-rank (academic staff) scientists and engineers in three disciplinary categories: Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Life Sciences.
• Each year, one nominee in each disciplinary category will be named a Blavatnik Awards in the UK Laureate.
• Laureates will be awarded £100,000 in unrestricted funds.
• In addition, two Finalists in each category will each receive £30,000 in unrestricted funds.  
• Awards will be conferred at the Blavatnik Awards in the UK ceremony in London, UK in Spring 2026.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Eligible nominees must:
  • Have been born in or after 1984 (42 years of age or younger);

    • Age-limit exceptions will be considered by the Blavatnik Family Foundation in exceptional circumstances upon a detailed written submission from the nominating institution.

  • Hold a doctorate degree (PhD, DPhil, MD, DDS, DVM, etc.);
  • Currently hold an academic staff position at an invited institution in the United Kingdom;
  • Currently conduct research as a principal investigator in one of the disciplinary categories in Chemical Sciences, Life Sciences, or Physical Sciences & Engineering.

Nominations:

• Please note that Imperial may only submit one application in each of the three disciplinary categories (Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Life Sciences). Therefore, an internal selection process will be used.
• HoDs should submit nominations (max. one nomination per department) to Lara Breckon (l.breckon@imperial.ac.uk) before COB Monday 31st March 2025. This should include (1) the nominees name, (2) the disciplinary category that the nominee would like to be considered for, (3) the nominee's CV, and (4) a half-page outlining the reasons why the nominee is a suitable candidate for the award. Nominations will be reviewed by RAG (or a subset of RAG chaired by the Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise)).
• Please note that further materials will be required for successful candidates following the internal submission stage (official deadline 28th May 2025). The nomination package for the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK contains the following documents: (1) Nomination Form, (2) Rationale for Nomination, (3) Curriculum Vitae, (4) Research Summary (max 1000 words), (5) Professional Service and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement, (6) Full-text Publications and/or Patents, and (7) Letters of Recommendation.
• Please refer to the updated 2026 Blavatnik Awards in the UK Guidelines for details on candidate eligibility and selection criteria.  Details of nomination requirements can be found on the Blavatnik Award’s Nomination Materials & Instructions page. 

VPRE Office submission deadline:  Monday 31st March 2025

Background:

• The Gretener-Thürlemann Prize, which will be awarded for the first time in 2025, honours scientists from around the world for their outstanding achievements in medicine, chemistry and physics. 
• This year the Prize will honour achievements in the field of medicine (clinical/translational).
• The amount of the prize is 500,000 Swiss francs.
• The Prize is awarded by the University of Zurich. 
• The award ceremony of the Gretener-Thürlemann Prize will take place in Zurich on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.

Eligibility Criteria:

• The Prize will honour outstanding scientists for foundational and pioneering research of societal benefit
• Both individual scientists, teams (up to 3 people) or groups of scientists working independently on the same topic (up to 3 people) may be nominated.
• In 2025, the prize will be awarded only for translational/clinical research in medicine.

Nominations:

• Please note that Imperial may only submit two applications. Therefore, an internal selection process will be used. 
• HoDs should submit nominations to Lara Breckon (l.breckon@imperial.ac.uk) before EOD Wednesday 30th April 2025. This should be a single pdf, with the following information: 
  • (1) Name(s) and email(s) of nominee(s). 
  • (2) A nomination letter (3 pages max.), that explicitly addresses why the proposed candidate(s) meet(s) the prize criterion of having conducted “foundational, pioneering research of societal benefit”. 
  • (3) A maximum of 3 publications, illustrating the nature and excellence of the candidate’s research.
  • (4) A short CV (2 pages max.) of the proposed candidate, CVs for all nominees in the case of a group nomination.
  • (5) A list of other scientists who, in addition to the nominee(s), should be considered for this award because they have made crucial contributions in collaboration with the nominee(s) or because they have made related observations independently; please explain in detail.
• Nominations will be reviewed by RAG (or a subset of RAG chaired by the Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise)).

VPRE Office submission deadline:  Wednesday 30th April 2025