Contact:
Barb Pruitt, Kauffman Foundation, (816) 932-1288, bpruitt@kauffman.org
Cathee Johnson Phillips, National Postdoctoral Association, cjphillips@nationalpostdoc.org
Kauffman Foundation and National Postdoctoral Association jointly offer award, build aspiration for scholars
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 30, 2009) — 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 award was announced at the 7th annual meeting for the NPA in Houston.
The award recognizes and celebrates excellence in entrepreneurial performance by a postdoctoral researcher in the scientific community. The winner will receive a $10,000 honorarium. A second award, the Emerging Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award, will be given to a promising postdoctoral entrepreneur. This winner will receive a $2,500 honorarium.
"Role models and their stories are powerful tools to increase awareness of entrepreneurship among the postdoctoral research community," said Sandy Miller, Kauffman Foundation senior fellow and director of the Kauffman Entrepreneur Postdoctoral Fellowship program. "Postdocs are at the forefront of pioneering research that will improve our lives and society in countless ways. We want to applaud their efforts to get their research to market."
"We are delighted to partner with the Kauffman Foundation to celebrate postdoctoral entrepreneurship," said Cathee Johnson-Phillips, the NPA executive director. "This award will build awareness of entrepreneurship among postdoctoral scholars, who make significant contributions to scientific discovery and innovation in the United States."
To apply for the awards, an individual must hold a doctorate degree and have been a postdoctoral scholar in the United States, as well as meet other criteria. Specific eligibility criteria for each award and application information will be released in June 2009, and the deadline for submission of applications has been tentatively set for Oct. 1, 2009. The inaugural awards will be presented at the 8th Annual Meeting of the NPA, slated for March 12-14, 2010, in Philadelphia, Pa.
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 program, visit www.kauffman.org/postdocs.
"Through this award and our fellowship program, the Kauffman Foundation is committing significant resources to aid in unleashing the enormous potential of the postdoc community through entrepreneurship and education," Miller said. "By helping postdocs learn how to commercialize their research, we further the Foundation’s mission to grow the economy and expand human welfare."
About the National Postdoctoral Association
Founded in 2003, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit national organization of postdoctoral scientists, postdoctoral administrators, research universities, professional societies and other supporters dedicated toward improving the postdoctoral experience. The NPA is a member-driven organization, with the work largely done through standing committees. Since its founding, the NPA has assumed a leadership role in addressing issues confronting the postdoctoral community that are national in scope, requiring action beyond the local level. Key alliances are being forged at all levels, and new standards and policies proposed by NPA are being considered and adopted by federal agencies and research institutions through the United States. For more information on the NPA, visit www.nationalpostdoc.org.
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