Protein Society Awards Eligibility and Guidelines


Membership is not required to submit a nomination. The 2027 Awards nominations deadline is Nov. 1, 2026. 

Eligibility and Guidelines

Nominator:

  1. Membership is not required. 

  2. TPS Council members may not submit nominations, nor provide letters of support.

Nominee:

  1. Membership is not required.

  2. Any nominee who has won an award from TPS in the past 10 years is not eligible for nomination.

  3. TPS council members are not eligible for nomination during their term or for 3 years subsequent to serving.

  4. Apart from the Young Investigator Award (first 8 years of an independent career), there are no age or gender requirements for any of the awards.

Multiple Nominations

  1. Multiple nominations from the same nominator are allowed but must be submitted as a separate nomination. 

  2. If two independent nominators nominate the same person for the same award, the nominations will be combined into one.

  3. The Society reserves the right to consider a nominee for a different award than the one for which they were  originally nominated, if the committee determines it to be a more appropriate fit.

Completed Nominations must include:

Nominee:

  1. Name, professional title, affiliation, postal and e-mail addresses, phone number.

  2. Curriculum Vitae (limited to five pages) to include achievements on which the nomination is based and listing of up to 25 publications.

Nominator:

  1. Nominating statement. This statement should summarize the achievements on which the nomination is based, in no more than 200 words.

  2. Nominating letter, including name and signature, professional title, affiliation, postal and e-mail address and phone number. The nominating letter should elaborate on the nominating statement and provide the context for, and specific details about, the nominee’s contributions. The letter should explain why the nominee is deserving of the award for which they are being nominated. Additional information provided in the Guidelines section below. Please limit the nominating letter to no more than two pages.

  3. Supporting letters: The nominator should arrange for one or more letters seconding the nomination. Supporting letters should be limited to no more than two pages each.

Nominations are no longer carried over.

Guidelines and Criteria

The following criteria is applicable to all of the nine TPS awards, and should be addressed in the nominating letter and supporting letters:

  • Strength and Impact of Scientific Accomplishment

  • Academic Stewardship (Please take into consideration environment and resources)

  • Achieved national or international recognition 

  • Innovative aspect of research findings or application

  • Strengthens diversity and/or TPS membership of past recipients.

Award-specific criteria – should be addressed in the nominating letter and supporting letters, specifically for each award.

The Carl Brändén Award, sponsored by Rigaku Corporation, honors an outstanding protein scientist who has also made exceptional contributions in the areas of education and/or service to the field.

The Christian B. Anfinsen Award, sponsored by The Protein Society, recognizes technological achievement or significant methodological advances in the field of protein science. 

The Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award, sponsored by Rigaku Corporation, is granted in recognition of exceptional contributions in protein science that profoundly influence our understanding of biology.

The Emil Thomas Kaiser Award, sponsored by generous individual contributions, recognizes a recent, highly-significant contribution to the application of chemistry in the study of proteins.

The Hans Neurath Award, sponsored by the Hans Neurath Foundation, honors individuals who have made a recent contribution of exceptional merit to basic protein research. 

The Marie Maynard Daly Award, the newest award sponsored by The Protein Society, recognizes groundbreaking research at the interface between protein science and human health.

The Martin Karplus Award, established in 2026, honors scientists' outstanding contributions to theoretical biophysics. The inaugural recipient of the Martin Karplus Award will be recognized at the 41st Annual Symposium in San Francisco, California.

The Protein Science Young Investigator Award, sponsored by Wiley, recognizes scientists within their first 8 years of an independent career at the time of nomination who have made an important contribution to the study of proteins. 

The Stein & Moore Award, sponsored by The Protein Society and with support from Wiley, is named for Nobel laureates Dr. William Stein and Dr. Stanford Moore. The award recognizes eminent leaders in protein science who have made sustained, high-impact research contributions to the field.