Annual awards celebrate faculty, staff, postdocs, and students who are making exceptional contributions to the UI research enterprise
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Written by
Leslie Revaux

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is now accepting nominations for the 2025 Discovery and Innovation Awards.

Awarded annually, the OVPR recognizes a range of mission-critical activities of the research enterprise, including conducting superior research and scholarship, engaging with public audiences, coordinating complex research programs, and mentoring the next generation of researchers, scholars, and artists.

“These awards honor the UI’s high-achieving faculty, staff, postdocs, and students for their relentless pursuit of new knowledge,” said Lois Geist, interim vice president for research and associate provost for faculty. “Collectively, their work expands the frontiers of discovery, improves the lives of people in our local and global community, and enhances our institutional mission to provide dynamic educational experiences for our students.” 

Awards are available in the following categories:

Faculty Awards

  • Scholar of the Year
  • Early Career Scholar of the Year
  • Leadership in Research
  • Distinguished Achievement in Publicly Engaged Research
  • Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Humanities Research
  • Faculty Communicating Ideas Award
  • OUR Distinguished Mentor Award

Research Staff Awards

  • Distinguished Research Administrator Award
  • Distinguished Research Professional Award​​

Safety Awards

  • Innovation in Safety Award
  • Innovation in Safety Award (Student)

Postdoctoral Award

  • Postdoctoral Research Scholar/Fellow Excellence Award

Student Awards

  • Excellence in Undergraduate Research Awards
  • Graduate Research Excellence Awards

The deadline for nominations is January 3, 2025. Nomination instructions and award criteria are available on the Discovery and Innovation webpage.

Student and postdoctoral winners will be recognized at the Celebration of Student and Postdoctoral Researchers at the Englert on March 4, 2025. The winners of the faculty and staff awards will be recognized at the University of Iowa Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony in May 2025.

The Office of the Vice President for Research, the Office of Finance and Operations, the Graduate College, and the Office of Undergraduate Research sponsor the awards.

Questions can be directed to vpr-office@uiowa.edu.