In celebration of the exceptional research and mentorship taking place in the college, CBS has created a series of awards to recognize the commitment, inspiration and guidance provided by our faculty, staff and students. If you are interested in nominating someone for a research or mentorship award, please take note of the terms of eligibility and relevant deadlines of each.
CBS Graduate Student Best Paper Award
Through this award, CBS recognizes exceptional research papers published by graduate students during the preceding year. There are three awards in total, valued at $500 each, with one award granted per department.
Eligibility: Any student in a CBS graduate program who:
- has produced a first-author or co-first author paper that was published (or accepted) into a peer-reviewed journal between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year. Where two students have are co-first authors, they may be jointly nominated.
- is a current (or recent) graduate student who conducted and published research while in a CBS graduate program. If graduated, they must have defended their thesis no more than 12 months prior to the date of article acceptance.
(NB: This award is intended to recognize both research excellence and the timely submission of research articles. Should an exceptional paper be accepted more than 12 months after a student has defended, the student can still be nominated, but it is the nominator's responsibility to explain the delay. The adjudication committee will take this information into account during its deliberation.)
Note: A student may be nominated for a paper only once (either as accepted or published).
Students must be nominated by their primary advisor. Faculty nominators must submit the following:
- A copy of the published paper (or pre-print, along with notification of acceptance from the journal)
- A cover letter that addresses the following adjudication criteria:
- the originality, impact and/or other significance of the paper to the discipline
- the student’s role in experimental design, carrying out the experiment(s), and preparing the manuscript. The letter should also provide) any additional information that may be relevant (e.g., quality of the journal). The length of this letter should not exceed 2 pages.
Nominations must be submitted to Sarah Bates, Research Manager, [1] in the CBS Associate Dean of Research office by April 1. Recipients will be selected by the CBS Graduate Awards Committee and notified by April 30.
Graduate Mentoring Award of Excellence
Graduate students are invited to nominate a faculty member within the College of Biological Science who has demonstrated excellence and/or innovation in the supervision and mentorship of graduate trainees.
Nominations will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- quality of the graduate training environment provided by the nominee (*see below)
- impact on graduate students
- commitment and dedication to training and mentoring. Quality of the graduate training environment can include, but is not limited to, the following:
- opportunities for regular interaction with advisor;
- opportunities to participate in outreach activities and/or conferences, and to interact with collaborators/partners/stakeholders
- development of professional skills needed in research or other career paths, and/or encouragement of students to pursue additional training activities as appropriate.
A nomination package should include the following:
- Nomination form [2]
- Cover letter from nominator (must be a current or former graduate student) with a statement of recommendation that speaks to the evaluation criteria outlined above
- A minimum of two support letters, and no more than five. At least one letter must be from a current or former graduate student. Additional letters may be provided, as appropriate, by other students, faculty, staff, alumni, administrators, and external partners or collaborators.
Nominations should be sent to the CBS Associate Dean Academic Office (cbsada@uoguelph.ca [3]) by the beginning of March each year.
Mentorship Award for Post-Doctoral Fellows
In recognition of the important role that post-doctoral fellows play in guiding and inspiring undergraduates and graduate student researchers, the CBS would like to invite nominations for its Mentorship Award for Post-doctoral Fellows. Students, faculty and/or staff are invited to nominate a post-doctoral fellow within CBS who has demonstrated excellence in the mentorship of undergraduate and/or graduate students. Post-docs may also be nominated by another post-doctoral fellow.
Nominations will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Demonstrated commitment to mentoring junior trainees in the areas of research, professional development, career planning and/or personal challenges
- Impact of the post-doc’s mentoring activities on trainees.
A nomination package should include the following:
- Nomination form [4]
- Cover letter from the nominator with a statement of recommendation that speaks to the evaluation criteria outlined above
- A minimum of one additional support letter, and no more than three. At least one of the letters (either nominator’s cover letter or letter of support) must be from a current or former student who was mentored by the nominee. Additional letters may be provided, as appropriate, by additional students, other post-doctoral fellows, faculty or staff.
Nominations should be sent to the CBS Associate Dean Academic Office (cbsada@uoguelph.ca [3]) by the beginning of March each year.
