EARLY CAREER INVESTIGATORS OF THE BSC
The BSC recognizes the achievements of early career investigators through the Early Career Investigator Award (previously the Young Investigator Award). Recipients are researchers who, within the first 10 years of obtaining an independent position, have made outstanding contributions to biophysics while working at a Canadian University (or other Canadian research institution), and who are emerging as leaders in their field.
Nomination Deadline: June 30, 2022
Nomination Guidelines: ENGLISH
- The nominee must be within ten years of their first independent research position (excluding leaves of absence) at the time of the nomination
- The nominee must be working at a Canadian university (or other Canadian research institution), in any subfield of biophysics
- BSC membership is not required, but encouraged
Any member of the Biophysical Society of Canada who is in good standing can nominate a deserving candidate for the Early Career Investigator Award by e-mailing a nomination package to the BSC Awards Committee by June 30th of each year.
Complete nomination packages must be sent to Justin MacCallum, chair of the Awards Committee. Only nominations received by the deadline will be reviewed and ranked through votes by the executives of the Biophysical Society of Canada. Nominations in all areas of biophysics are welcome.
The nomination package must include:
- A one-page cover letter from the nominator
- A current CV of the nominee
- Two supporting letters from arms-length biophysicists different from the nominator, which will address the selection criteria presented below
The Early Career Investigator Award recipients are chosen by the BSC Executive based on recommendations from the Awards Committee, which provides an initial ranking based on the following selection criteria:
- Research excellence demonstrated during their independent research position at a Canadian university (or other Canadian research institution), as judged from publications, conference presentations, and establishment of an active research group with advanced training in biophysics
- Research impact, as judged from high-impact and highly cited publications, invited talks, national and international awards and grants
- Research leadership, as judged from the reputation in their sub-field, development of new research areas and research methodologies, active collaborations, editorial and peerreviewing activities, organization of conferences, workshops, and symposia
The Early Career Investigator Award winner is recognized at the Annual meeting of the Biophysical Society of Canada with a plaque and is also selected for a plenary lecture. An honorarium of $300 is provided, along with a contribution towards travel expenses to attend the BSC Annual Meeting. One award per year is offered. The Biophysical Society of Canada is committed to upholding the principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and will apply these principles to adjudication of this award.
AWARD RECIPIENTS
Dr. Trushar Patel
2022 Young Investigator Award
Dr. Patel's research has provided insights into the communication of human proteins and viral nucleic acids central to viral infection.
Dr. David Sivak
2021 Young Investigator Award
Dr. Sivak's interdisciplinary work has bridged the gap between theory and experiments to understand the inner workings of molecular machines and provide answers to fundamental questions in the evolutionary optimization of biomolecular structure and function.
Dr. Sabrina Leslie
2020 Young Investigator Award
Dr. Leslie has pioneered and perfected a new type of molecular imaging modality named CliC (Convex Lens-Induced Confinement), allowing long-time observations of large numbers of individual molecules in natural conditions.
Dr. Roberto Chica
2019 Young Investigator Award
Dr. Chica has been pushing the boundaries of protein engineering through his pioneering work in computational protein design.