How to Submit a Nomination
Nominations are accepted from current Rice faculty, staff or students. Nominees must have primary appointments in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Self-nominations are not accepted. Submit each nomination as a single combined PDF. All nominations are due on February 8 of each year. The citation should be a sentence or short paragraph describing the nominee’s contributions, and it should be suitable for publication in an announcement of award winners. For award nominations that require a CV, 5-pages or fewer is preferred.
If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Michaelis at stephanie.michaelis@rice.edu.
Awards
Exemplary Faculty Award
Conferred on one NSCI faculty member (any rank) each year in recognition of outstanding achievement in research, teaching and service at Rice.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (800-word limit), citation and CV of nominee
2025 Winner: Bonnie Bartel, Biosciences
For her fundamental cell biology research, her enthusiastic and passionate teaching and mentoring, and her impactful service at Rice and in the larger scientific community.
Breakthrough Research Award
Conferred on one tenured NSCI faculty member each year in recognition of an outstanding research advance within the past 5 years at Rice.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit), citation and CV of nominee
2025 Winner: Chris Leininger, Mathematics
For a breakthrough that provides a remarkably elegant solution to a famous and challenging 30-year-old problem.
Rising Star Award
Conferred on one NSCI tenure-track assistant professor each year in recognition of outstanding research achievement at Rice.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit), citation and CV of nominee
2025 Winner: Yang Gao, Biosciences
For groundbreaking research on polymerases, nucleases, and helicases revealing fundamental insights into their roles in maintaining genomes, advancing our understanding of the DNA damage response, genome integrity, and disease mechanisms.
Excellence in Postdoctoral Research Award
Conferred on one NSCI postdoctoral researcher each year in recognition of outstanding research done during the postdoctoral appointment at Rice. (A nominee must be employed at Rice as a postdoctoral researcher at the time of nomination in order to be eligible.)
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit), citation and CV of nominee
2025 Winner: Yi Cheng, Chemistry
For pioneering contributions to materials synthesis, waste upcycling, and environmental remediation using ultrafast flash Joule heating. His groundbreaking research has gained significant attention in both academia and industry and attracted numerous interests for practical applications.
Award for Outstanding Teaching in the School of Natural Sciences
Conferred on one NSCI faculty member (any rank) each year in recognition of outstanding instruction at Rice.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit), citation and CV of nominee
2025 Winner: Laura Kabiri, Kinesiology
Laura Kabiri exemplifies outstanding instruction at Rice through her engaging teaching style, commitment to course innovation and improvement, and dedication to quality online courses, all to improve student learning.
Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring Award
Conferred on one NSCI faculty member (any rank) each year in recognition of outstanding undergraduate mentoring or academic advising at Rice.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit), citation and CV of nominee
2025 Winner: Guido Pagano, Physics and Astronomy
For impactful mentoring of undergraduate students marked by exceptional compassion.
Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award
Conferred on one NSCI faculty member (any rank) each year in recognition of outstanding graduate student mentoring at Rice.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit), citation and CV of nominee
2025 Winner: Edison Liang, Physics and Astronomy
In recognition of excellence in mentoring graduate students in Astrophysics, with the motto "Teach them how to walk, but never hold their hands. Let them fall, get up and try again.”
Excellence in Outreach Award
Conferred on one NSCI faculty or staff member each year in recognition of outstanding outreach and public promotion of STEM.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit), citation and CV of nominee
2025 Winner: Kasey Leigh Yearty, Chemistry
For her continuous commitment and contributions to outreach in STEM for the Rice student body and her success in growing the FUN with Chemistry program, impacting 31,000+ Houston-area K-12 students through 130+ events.
Outstanding Faculty Service Award
Conferred on one NSCI faculty member (any rank) each year in recognition of outstanding service to the department, school or university.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit), citation and CV of nominee
2024 Winner: Anthony Várilly-Alvarado, Mathematics
For his commitment to serving the mission of the department, school and university, as well as the mathematical community.
Ruth Parks Award for Distinguished Service
Conferred on one NSCI staff member each year in recognition of more than 7 years of distinguished service to the department, school or university.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit) and citation
2025 Winner: Lee Willson, Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
For 17 years of outstanding service to the Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Department, patiently and professionally coordinating a broad mix of faculty, staff and students, and ensuring that the department functions smoothly and efficiently.
Outstanding Staff Service Award
Conferred on one NSCI staff member in their first 7 years at Rice in recognition of exemplary service to the department, school or university.
Nomination materials: nomination letter (600-word limit) and citation
2025 Winner: Nancy Adler, Chemistry
For contributions to the administration of the Rice chemistry academic program, outstanding service to the chemistry faculty searches and beyond.
2024-25 Committee
Darin Acosta, Physics and Astronomy, Chair
Dan Carson, Biosciences
David Damanik, Mathematics
Cassandra Diep, Kinesiology
Cin-Ty Lee, Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
Bruce Weisman, Chemistry