Society Awards and Prizes

2024 Deadlines

January 29: Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution Program
January 31: SSE Presidents’ Award for Outstanding Dissertation Paper in Evolution
January 31: International Travel Stipends
February 1: Thomas Henry Huxley Award
February 23: 
Graduate Research Excellence Grants - R.C. Lewontin Early Awards
March 1: Small Grants Program for Local and Regional Outreach Promoting the Understanding of Evolutionary Biology 
March 15: Graduate Student and Postdoc Registration Waiver
March 15: Caregiver Awards
April 15: Hamilton Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Presentation
September: Sponsored Symposia 
September: Lifetime Achievement Award
October: Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Award
October: Graduate Research Excellence Grants - Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards
December 1: Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize

Accepted on a rolling basis:
SSE Membership Awards

Deadline to be determined:
International Event Grants

Not being held in 2024:
Stephen Jay Gould Prize 
Early-Career Vocational Opportunities Workshop Grants

Award Descriptions

NOTE: Indirect costs may not be charged to any of our awards or grants.

PRIZES

Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize 

The Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding early-career evolutionary biologist. The prize was established in memory of Professor Dobzhansky by his friends and colleagues, and reflects his lifelong commitment to fostering the research careers of young scientists.

SSE Presidents’ Award for Outstanding Dissertation Paper in Evolution

The SSE Presidents' Award for Outstanding Dissertation Paper in Evolution is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution for an outstanding PhD dissertation paper published in the journal Evolution during a given calendar year.

Stephen Jay Gould Prize 

The Stephen Jay Gould Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize individuals whose sustained and exemplary efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science and its importance in biology, education, and everyday life in the spirit of Stephen Jay Gould. This prize will not be offered in 2024.

W. D. Hamilton Award 

The Hamilton Award will be given to a student or recent graduate who has presented an outstanding talk at the annual meeting, as judged by a committee of SSE members. Applicants will present their papers during regular sessions of the meeting, appropriate for their topic. The most competitive talks will be those that can convey a complete story.

Thomas Henry Huxley Award

This award named in honor of Darwin's very public supporter T. H. Huxley, was established in 2013 to recognise outreach and education achievement for early and mid career scientists. Winners of this award are provided with support to present on behalf of the Society for the Study of Evolution at the annual meeting of the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT). Annual calls for nomination will be advertised on the SSE web site and through appropriate Evolutionary Biology web sources such as EVOLDIR in late January/early February.

Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Award

The American Society of Naturalists, the Society for the Study of Evolution, and the Society of Systematic Biologists announce the call for nominations for the 1st annual ASN/SSE/SSB Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Award. The IDEA Award will be given to a person at any career stage who has strengthened the ecology and evolutionary biology community by promoting inclusiveness and diversity in our fields. The award can also be presented to a group. The recipient will receive a plaque at the annual meeting of ASN/SSB/SSE and a $1000 honorarium. 

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award was created to recognize individuals who have made substantial contributions to the study of evolution, who have demonstrated outstanding mentorship of trainees, and/or who have provided noteworthy service to the evolution community. Nominations should be submitted by April 1. 

SSE Membership Award

This award offers free two-year SSE memberships to 100 individuals of any career stage who identify as racial or ethnic minorities, either in their country of origin or their country of residence. This initiative is part of SSE Council’s 2020 commitment to actions to increase inclusion of and support for members of historically excluded groups, particularly individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC), in the field of evolutionary biology and through all of the society’s activities and programs. Learn more and apply here
 
 

GRANTS

Graduate Research Excellence Grants (GREGs)

R.C. Lewontin Early Awards: The GREG – R.C. Lewontin Early Awards are to assist students in the early stages of their PhD programs by enabling them to collect preliminary data (to pursue additional sources of support) or to enhance the scope of their research beyond current funding limits (e.g. by visiting additional field sites, or working at other labs). Awards up to $2500. Students must confirm that the proposed work is outside of funding already held by the student or advisor. 

Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards: The GREG - Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards are to assist students in the later stages of their PhD programs. Funds can be used to enhance the scope of dissertation research, such as to conduct additional experiments or field work. Awards up to $3500. Only PhD students who have completed at least 24 months of PhD work and are at least 12 months from degree completion at the proposal due date are eligible. Eligibility can be confirmed by the advisor or graduate director stating that the student fulfills these requirements. Students must confirm that the proposed work is outside other funding held by either the student or their advisor. 

Early-Career Vocational Opportunities (EVO) Workshop Grants

The SSE Council and GSAC invite proposals for grants up to $3,000 to help support Society-sponsored Early-career Vocational Opportunities (EVO) Workshops. This is a new program to provide valuable learning opportunities for Society graduate students and postdocs. The topic of the workshop can be anything, and material can be presented in any format, as long as it is interactive and its content serves to provide foundational skills that are appropriate for early-career SSE members in the areas of conceptual understanding, data collection, data analysis, or professional development. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. (Paused for 2023.)

Small Grants Program for Local and Regional Outreach Promoting the Understanding of Evolutionary Biology

The SSE provides opportunities for SSE members to apply for awards up to $1,000. The Committee encourages partnerships between other bodies engaged in outreach, such as museums, local schools, etc.

International Event Grants 

The goal of these grants is to foster communication and collaboration between scientists from different countries by sponsoring international symposia, workshops, courses, and other events within the field of evolutionary biology. Our priority is to support events that benefit emerging communities in the field of evolutionary biology. These grants replace the “Co-sponsorship of symposia organized by non-US based evolution societies” grants and Evolution International Events Awards (EIE Awards).

Sponsored Symposia 

The Society for the Study of Evolution supports symposia (typically two) at its annual meetings in order to highlight new topics, provide new perspectives, or generate new syntheses. The exact configuration of symposia may vary from year to year, but proposals should tentatively assume six half-hour slots. The Society provides support for organizers and participants in sponsored symposia to attend and present at the annual meeting (up to $9000 per symposium).  

TRAVEL AWARDS

Travel award recipients are not eligible to volunteer at the conference.

SSE Graduate Student and Postdoc Registration Waiver

This program is for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows interested in attending and presenting at the in-person annual Evolution meeting, especially those who need additional financial support in order to attend. This program replaces the SSE Graduate Student and Postdoc Travel Supplement. 

Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution Program 

The Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution (UDE) program sends undergraduate students to the annual Evolution meeting, the joint meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB), and the American Society of Naturalists (ASN). At the meeting, students will (i) present a poster, (ii) receive mentoring from graduate students, postdocs, and faculty, and (iii) participate in a career-oriented 'Undergraduate Futures in Evolutionary Biology' panel and discussion. Each selected awardee receives conference registration, round-trip airfare, dorm accommodations (double occupancy), a $200 meal stipend, and a ticket to the Super Social. Learn more on the UDE Program page

International Travel Stipends 

These stipends are for students and young scientists to attend the annual Evolution meetingAwards may also be used to attend the annual meeting of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB). Scientists working in a country with high GDP are not eligible. 


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