Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists

The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists recognize outstanding early-career faculty-rank researchers in Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemical Sciences in the United States. The programme awards one National Laureate in each disciplinary category and several finalist prizes. Awards are evaluated on quality, impact, novelty and promise of the nominee’s independent research. Prize amounts include a $250,000 award for each laureate and finalist awards of $15,000.

Laureate prize of $250,000; finalist awards of $15,000; one National Laureate per disciplinary category; recognition as a Blavatnik Award winner.

Nominees must have been born in or after 1985, hold a doctorate (PhD, DPhil, MD, DDS, DVM, etc.), currently hold a tenured or tenure-track faculty position (or equivalent), and currently conduct research as a principal investigator in one of the disciplinary categories (Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, or Chemical Sciences). Institutions may submit nominations following internal selection limits.

Institutions run an internal nomination process (UW–Madison internal review by October 14, 2026 in this instance) and submit nomination materials to the Blavatnik Family Foundation by the sponsor deadline. Internal nominations are submitted to the institution's OVCR (at UW–Madison, materials emailed to grants@research.wisc.edu).