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Call for Nominations



The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
 McCharles Prize for Early Career Research Distinction

Consisting of Commemorative Medal, Plaque and $25,000 award

This is the inaugural call for nominations for the re-established McCharles Prize for Early Career Research Distinction.  The McCharles Prize was originally established in 1907 by Aeneas McCharles through a gift to the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto.  The Faculty and the University have re-established the McCharles Prize as an award for exceptional performance and distinction in early career research on the part of a pre-tenure member of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.  The inaugural McCharles Prize will be awarded at the meeting of Faculty Council on May 28, 2008.  The next prize will be awarded in May 2010, and then it will be awarded every three years following.  Departments may nominate only one candidate in any given competition.  Self-nominations will not be accepted.  The deadline for submissions is Friday March 28, 2008. 

Additional Information

The Prize

Commemorative medal, plaque and $25,000—$5,000 of which is a personal award; $20,000 of which will go to the researcher as discretionary research funds. The awardee will also be named McCharles Fellow until the next prize is awarded. 

Eligibility

Pre-tenure tenure-stream faculty members are eligible for this award.

Criteria

  • Candidates must be Canadian citizens and must have been resident in Canada at the time the work cited was performed.
  • Candidates must be proposed in writing by a qualified person and supported by a second such person familiar with the achievement for which the nomination is made.  Sufficient evidence must be furnished to satisfy the Committee as to the importance of the achievement.  Joint candidacy may be proposed and awards shared in the event of a shared accomplishment.
  • Candidates must be pre-tenure faculty members.  Pre-tenure faculty members may be nominated by their departments based on the third year pre-tenure research progress report.
  • Candidates will normally come from within the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.  However, in keeping with the intention of the donor, the University will advertise the Prize competition and nominations from other Faculties will be considered.
  • Since the McCharles Prize will be awarded tri-annually, candidates who had their third year progress review in the previous two years may be nominated, as well as those from the current year. Candidates who received early tenure within the preceding two years, in part as a result of exceptional early research, may also be nominated.
  • The candidate’s research must be truly exceptional, and ideally will have both been recognized as such by sources outside the department and the University of Toronto, and have led toward or be leading toward practical application.
  • Departments may submit one nomination in any given competition.  Any candidate may be nominated more than once, provided all nominations refer to achievements in the pre-tenure/early stages of the candidate’s career.
  • The Selection Committee may choose NOT to award the McCharles Prize if the calibre of the candidates is not of sufficient distinction.

Guidelines

Nomination packages must include:

          • The candidate’s CV
          • A 3-5 page nomination letter from the Department Chair/Institute Director and one additional nominator outlining why the candidate should receive this award
          • Three letters of support from peers who can comment objectively on the candidate’s research.  At least one of these letters should be from outside the University of Toronto.

Submissions

Completed nominations should be submitted to the Office of the Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto by Friday March 28, 2008 at 5:00pm.  The winner will be announced in early May and the award will be presented at the meeting of Faculty Council on Wednesday May 28, 2008. 
The next call for nominations will be in November 2009.  The next McCharles Prize will be awarded in May 2010. 

Please submit nominations to:

McCharles Prize Selection Committee
c/o Carolyn Farrell 
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
University of Toronto
Galbraith Building, Room 170
35 St. George St.
Toronto, ON M5S 1A4

For more information please contact Carolyn Farrell at 416-978-8666 or carolyn.farrell@utoronto.ca .

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