Nominations and Applications Are Now Open for the Inaugural Rutgers Innovation Awards
The Office for Research is proud to announce the inaugural Rutgers Innovation Awards, to be hosted in September. We are now accepting applications and nominations for this recognition.
The event will recognize outstanding achievements by Rutgers researchers who have demonstrated excellence by developing a breakthrough idea, process, or technology that has shown its transformational potential to improve lives and create economic value.
We strongly encourage researchers at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, to either self-apply or nominate their peers, postdocs, or students. Applicants can apply online for one or more of the 10 categories. There is no requirement to have any patent application filed or issued. Individuals can apply themselves or as a team to some of the categories listed on the website.
“The Rutgers Innovation Awards will not only honor the best innovations developed at Rutgers but also serve as a testament to the incredible research, scholarship, and creative endeavors being done at all four Chancellor-led units by faculty, staff, post-docs, and students,” said Michael E. Zwick, PhD, senior vice president for research.
In a joint statement, executive director of technology transfer Deborah Perez-Fernandez, PhD and executive director of new ventures Vince Smeraglia, JD, said, “The members of the Technology Transfer and New Ventures teams are proud to collaborate with the incredible innovators at Rutgers and help guide the amazing work they do on the path to commercialization. We look forward to celebrating some of that work with the inaugural Rutgers Innovation Awards.”
Applications need to be submitted online through the application portal. Nominators can use the nomination portal to submit their nominations. Nominees will receive an email with a link to the application portal to submit their information. Both the nomination and application portals are on the official Rutgers Innovation Awards website. The candidates will be reviewed and scored by a subcommittee that includes industry executives, business leaders, and other external subject matter experts, and the recipients will be announced in August. The winners will receive their awards at the event in September.
The Rutgers Innovation Awards categories are:
- Early Career Innovator Award
- Undergraduate Student Innovation Award
- Graduate Student Innovation Award
- Postdoctoral Fellow Innovation Award
- Rutgers Startup Innovation Award
- Social Innovation Award
- AI/Digital Innovation Award
- Health Science/Biomedical Innovation Award
- Agriculture Innovation Award
- Physical Science & Engineering Innovation Award
Rutgers inventors who have received issued US patents during the fiscal years 2023 and 2024 will also be honored with commemorative plaques. For more information, visit the Rutgers Innovation Awards website or email Eusebio (EZ) Pires at the Office for Research. This is an invite-only event.
