Awarded up to two faculty members who at the time of the application deadline for this award is within ten years of their initial faculty appointment and has made significant contributions in research, scholarship, and/or creative works. Such contributions will have demonstrated the promise of the scholar, such that their work has garnered some public and/or professional accolade(s). All disciplines will be considered for this award. Nominators are free to include any available quantitative metrics but should focus the nomination primarily on the major topics of, and/or research accomplishments noted in, the specified publication(s) and/or work(s) . Nominators should include both qualitative and quantifiable measures such as publications, citations, intellectual property, commercialized products, major commissions of creative works, significant research collaborations or other indications of the nominee’s potential for widespread influence, either within a specific field or throughout the community at large. The award is $6,000 of which $3,000 is for the recipient's personal use and $3,000 is for the support of their research. Recipients are ineligible if they have won this award in the past three years.

Eligibility: Nominees for this award must be within 10 years of their initial faculty appointment with a minimum of 5 years at Rice. For candidates who began their career in a non-academic setting, they must be within 10 years of the granting of their terminal degree, and must have spent at least 5 years at Rice. Nominations can be made here.