Research Excellence Awards
Please help us recognize and celebrate SFU researchers for their research excellence and readiness to be nominated for major external research awards. Research Excellence within the context of these Awards encompasses a broad spectrum of research and other scholarly work that demonstrates exceptional expertise, leadership and integrity. The cumulative effects of these activities, outcomes, and impacts have the potential to contribute to one or more disciplines, foster collaboration, enhance research capacity, promote public understanding, benefit communities and/or drive positive change within and beyond academia.
In addition to a $5,000 research grant, awardees will receive assistance from Institutional Strategic Awards (“the ISA”) to develop a personalized awards laddering plan.
2025 Competition: Key Dates |
|
| Nomination deadline | Nominations are due by 11:59 pm on February 14 using the PDF nomination form. Late submissions will not be accepted. |
| Results announced | Spring 2025 |
| Submit nomination | Submit the nomination by emailing a completed signed Nomination Form and its required attachments as a single PDF document to awards@sfu.ca by the nomination deadline |
Related Policy Documents
List of Advisory Committee Members
| Name | Affiliation | Committee Position |
| Valorie Crooks | Associate Vice-President, Research | Chair |
| Maite Taboada | Distinguished SFU Professor, Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences | Co-Chair (FASS rep) |
| Melanie Monk | Associate Director, Researcher Excellence & Recognition, Institutional Strategic Awards | Secretary (ISA rep) |
| Betty Schellenberg | Distinguished SFU Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences | Member (PACAHP rep) |
| John Stockie | Professor, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science | Member (SPCSAB rep) |
| Richard Smith | Professor, School of Communication, Faculty of Communication, Art + Technology | Member (FCAT rep) |
| Christina Atanasova | Associate Dean, Research & International, Beedie School of Business | Member (Beedie rep) |
| Robert Hogg | Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Health Sciences | Member (FHS rep) |
| Marni Mishna | Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Science | Member (FoS rep) |
| Mark Collard | Professor, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Environment | Member (FENV rep) |
| Parvaneh Saeedi | Associate Dean, Research & Graduate Studies, Faculty of Applied Sciences | Member (FAS rep) |
| Ching-Chiu Lin | Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education | Member (FoE rep) |
| Lupin Battersby | Director, Knowledge Mobilization Hub | Member (KMb Hub rep) |
| Paola Ardiles Gamboa | Senior Advisor to the Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion | Member (EDI rep) |
Eligibility Details
Nominators: Deans, Associate Deans, Chairs and Directors, and faculty colleagues. Self-nominations are not permitted.
Nominees: Research Faculty Members (faculty members whose duties include the performance of independent research, as described in the SFUFA Collective Agreement) who have carried out the majority of the work being nominated for while at SFU. Specific award categories may have additional eligibility requirements as noted below.
Award Categories
The Vice-President, Research and Innovation (“the VPRI”) invites nominations for the following awards for the inaugural 2025 competition:
Horizon Award
Recognizes research and other scholarly contributions by an early-career scholar who has held an independent academic appointment for six years or less as of the nomination deadline and demonstrate exceptional growth and potential.
Milestone Award
Recognizes a research or scholarly contribution (the impact of which has happened in the last three years) that has led to demonstrable outcomes and transformative impacts. Open to individuals or teams; in the case of a team nomination, while non-faculty members of a research team may be named in the award citation, the award will be in the name of the lead research faculty member(s).
A total of up to six awards will be conferred, up to three in each category, to recognize research excellence at different career stages and areas of expertise.
Selection Criteria
These selection criteria apply to all award categories and are considered relative to career stage and disciplinary norms. Awardees (or awarded projects) must demonstrate at least one of the following:
- Demonstrate expertise, leadership, and integrity in research
- Build research capacity in the discipline
- Benefit communities, within and/or beyond the academy
Nomination Process
Please refer to the SFU Research Excellence Awards Policy R 70.01 and associated Procedure for details on these Awards, eligibility, nomination process, selection criteria, and the conditions of the award.
Nominations are due by 11:59 pm on February 14 using the PDF nomination form. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Nomination Package
For readability, written attachments must have minimum 2.5 cm margins and 12-point font single-spaced. Alternative formats (audio, video) are welcome, as noted below.
The following materials constitute a complete nomination package:
- Nomination form, signed by nominee(s) and nominator
- Nominator letter, max. 2 pages (or max. 5-minute audio or video recording). highlighting how the nominee satisfies the criteria for the specific award category, in layperson terms and taking into account the norms in the field
- Curated CV, max. 5 pages in narrative or standard format with sections or information of the nominee’s choosing relevant to the work being nominated, including a detailed list of contributions, outcomes, and other activities mentioned in general terms in the nomination letter. For the Milestone Award, nominees are encouraged to use the CV to list contributions that contextualize the specific impact being nominated.
Questions/Contact
Please review the FAQ page or contact awards@sfu.ca.