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Office of Research and Innovation

Outstanding Research Award and Research Leadership Academy Nomination Criteria

The vision of the Research Leadership Academy is to promote excellence in discovery and creative inquiry and build scholarly connections across NC State.

Overview

The Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award and membership in the Research Leadership Academy are intended to recognize NC State’s leading scholars and faculty mentors. Individuals selected receive a $4,000 monetary award and are expected to participate in and contribute to the advancement of scholarship within the NC State academic community.

The call for nominations for the 2025 Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award is now open. Nominations will be accepted through Thursday, March 6, 2025.

Description and Goals

The Research Leadership Academy (RLA) is the faculty-driven epicenter of research leadership and faculty mentoring, enhancing NC State’s research and scholarship culture. The RLA is composed of the university’s most outstanding researchers, from diverse fields; members are selected on their records of and active engagement in research and mentoring of faculty. The RLA is charged with developing and advocating best practices in research and administration, for the development of the diverse research faculty at NC State.

Membership in the RLA is lifetime, as long as the member remains associated with NC State and agrees to a commitment of active service to the academy for a minimum of three years. Members are expected to take an active role in promoting the research enterprise across campus by leading activities such as seminars, research and leadership education programs, and mentoring programs for faculty.

The goals of the RLA are:

  • to encourage a culture of faculty mentoring across campus,
  • empower faculty for success,
  • advance an intellectual, multidisciplinary research community, and
  • promote best administrative practices throughout the NC State research community.

Eligibility

All NC State faculty members, including active tenured, tenure-track, professional-track and administrators are eligible.

Selection Criteria

Nominees of the Outstanding Research Award should provide evidence of:

  • Excellence in discovery and/or innovation, the creation of new knowledge and/or the synthesis of existing knowledge in new and creative ways to generate new concepts, methodologies and understandings;
  • Long-term commitment to and excellence in mentoring of faculty at NC State, and
  • Record of, and desire to continue, service to the NC State research community.

Mentoring efforts may include, but are not limited to, counseling, facilitating the involvement of mentees in research projects, creation of and/or sharing knowledge about research opportunities, publicizing mentees’ contributions, actively working toward the success and promotion of junior faculty, and serving as role models by maintaining excellence in scholarship.

Service to the research community could include demonstrated contributions to the enhancement of the research culture and environment at NC State, such as the development of new research programs and initiatives.

  • Intellectual creativity and new insights in one (1) or more disciplines
  • Positive impacts on society
  • Peer recognition of contributions in one (1) or more disciplines
  • Evidence of substantial advances in knowledge or interpretation of knowledge
  • Facilitating the involvement of mentees in research projects
  • Actively working toward the success and promotion of junior faculty through mentorship and counseling
  • Serving as role model by maintaining excellence in scholarship
  • Creation of and/or sharing knowledge about research opportunities
  • Demonstrated contributions to the enhancement of the research culture and environment at NC State
  • Future aspirations for personal research discovery and development of NC State labs, programs or initiatives
  • Affirmation of internal collaborations
  • Indication of promoting a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging and well-being

For prior Outstanding Research Award recipients, nomination for membership to the RLA should, in addition to the above, highlight research with particular emphasis on mentorship activities post-award.

Nomination and Selection Committee

For 2025 awards, each college may submit two (2) names for consideration. In addition to the two (2) nominations, each college may nominate previous recipients of the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Research Award for membership in the RLA only. The Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation’s Office and the Provost’s Office may also each submit up to two (2) nominations. 

Nominations must be received in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation by Thursday, March 6, 2025 (see below for nomination package criteria).

The Vice Chancellor, as chair, will appoint a committee to select four (4) names to put forward to the Alumni Association as recipients of the Outstanding Research Award and membership into the RLA. Beyond these four (4) awardees, the committee may also select applicants who are previous Outstanding Research Award recipients for admission to the RLA only. Committee members will consist of:

  • The Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Chair
  • University Research Committee (URC) Chair and Past-Chair (if not nominated in the current year)
  • A representative from the Provost’s office
  • Four current RLA members, including chair and chair-elect

Nomination Package

Nomination packages should consist of the following:

  1. A letter of nomination from the Dean, Provost or Vice Chancellor for Research with justification for the nomination. Must be on letterhead with an original signature; 2-page maximum.
  2. A letter from the nominee to the selection committee summarizing their leadership and mentoring activities, with pertinent evidence of the impact their research and scholarship has had on their discipline and to NC State. Nominees must address the stated Selection Criteria in their letter. The first page must be on departmental letterhead — with subsequent pages using ¾” margins — and Arial 11 pt. or Times New Roman 12 pt. font should be used, single -spaced with appropriate paragraph and character spacing; 5-page maximum.
  3. The nominee’s complete C.V. No page limit.
  4. Three (3) letters of reference – two (2) from NC State-associated sources and one from non-NC State-associated sources. Must be on letterhead with contact information and original signature; 3-page maximum (for each letter of reference).

Nominations for the 2025 Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award will be accepted through Thursday, March 6, 2025.

Please address questions to research-award@ncsu.edu.

Frequently Asked Questions

All NC State faculty members, including active tenured, tenure-track, professional track and administrators are eligible.

No. Individuals who have previously received the Outstanding Research Award and are looking to be inducted into the RLA only should submit a full nomination packet. The nomination materials for these individuals should both:

  • Highlight research with emphasis on and mentorship activities post award; and
  • Demonstrate current/active research engagement.

Each College Research Office is responsible for gathering materials and putting together a full nomination package for each of its nominees. All reference letters and additional package materials should be sent to the nominee’s College Research Office.

Following receipt of all the appropriate materials, the College Research Office representative should send each fully completed packet to: research-award@ncsu.edu.

Nominees of the Outstanding Research Award should provide evidence of:

  • Excellence in discovery and/or innovation. The review committee pays particular attention to:
    • Intellectual creativity and new insights in one (1) or more disciplines
    • Positive impacts on society
    • Peer recognition of contributions in one (1) or more disciplines
    • Substantial scholarly advances
  • Long-term commitment to and excellence in mentoring of faculty at NC State. The review committee pays particular attention to:
    • Counseling efforts of mentees and junior faculty at NC State
    • Facilitating the involvement of mentees in research projects
    • Actively working toward the success and promotion of junior faculty
    • Serving as role model by maintaining excellence in scholarship
    • Creation of and/or sharing knowledge about research opportunities
  • Record of, and desire to continue, service to the NC State research community. The review committee pays particular attention to:
    • Demonstrated contributions to the enhancement of the research culture and environment at NC State
    • Service to NC State including, but not limited to, demonstrated contributions to the enhancement of the research culture and environment at NC State, such as the development of new research research programs and initiatives
    • Future aspirations for research discovery and development of NC State programs, initiatives or labs
    • Number of internal collaborations
  • Mentoring efforts including, but not limited to, counseling, facilitating the involvement of mentees in research projects, creation of and/or sharing knowledge about research opportunities, publicizing mentees’ contributions, actively working toward the success and promotion of junior faculty, and serving as role models by maintaining excellence in scholarship.
  • Service to the research community including, but not limited to, demonstrated contributions to the enhancement of the research culture and environment at NC State, such as the development of new research programs and initiatives.