Postdoctoral scholars who take the entrepreneurial steps to get
their research to market bring enormous potential benefits to society
and the economy. To recognize and encourage postdoc entrepreneurial
excellence, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the National
Postdoctoral Association (NPA) have launched the Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award.The winner will receive a $10,000 honorarium.
A second award, the
Emerging Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award, will be given to a postdoctoral researcher seeking to commercialize his or her discoveries. This winner will receive a $2,500
honorarium.
The inaugural awards will be presented at the 8th Annual Meeting
of the NPA, slated for March 12-14, 2010, in Philadelphia, Pa.
To be eligible for nomination for the Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award, an entrepreneur must:
- Hold a Ph.D. in a field of science.
- Have completed postdoctoral training in the United States.
- Be the founder or co-founder of a private or public company (or companies) that:
- is commercializing or has commercialized the nominee’s intellectual property AND
- is incorporated and located in the United States AND
- has been established for a minimum of three (3) years.
To be eligible for nomination for the Emerging Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award, an entrepreneur must:
- Hold a Ph.D. in a field of science.
- Currently hold a postdoctoral position in the United States OR have completed postdoctoral training in the United States.
- Be a member of the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA).
- Be actively seeking to commercialize his or her intellectual property OR working as a founding partner to commercialize others' intellectual property.
Nominations may be submitted electronically via the NPA Web site or e-mailed to the Executive Director of the NPA at nominations@nationalpostdoc.org. The nominee may also mail printed nomination forms and documents via the United States Post Office to:
Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award Nominations
National Postdoctoral Association
1200 New York Avenue NW, Suite 635
Washington, DC 20005
The deadline for electronic submission of nominations is 12 a.m. EST, Monday, November 2, 2009. Mailed nominations should be postmarked no later than November 2, 2009. Later postmarks will automatically disqualify the candidate.
The award is part of the Kauffman Foundation’s ongoing effort to
harness the entrepreneurial potential of postdoctoral researchers and
scientists across the United States. In February, the Kauffman
Foundation launched the Entrepreneur Postdoctoral Fellowship. Through
this program, the Foundation will select 12 top-tier postdoctoral
researchers with entrepreneurial aspirations. The Postdoctoral
Fellowship participants will learn the entrepreneurial skills necessary
to move their innovations from the lab to the market and potentially
establish the high-growth technology companies of tomorrow. To learn
more about the Entrepreneur Postdoctoral Fellowship, visit www.kauffman.org/postdocs.
