Newswise — Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced a call for nominations for the 2025 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, one of the longest running and most prestigious science and technology awards given by the U.S. government. The Lawrence Award is presented by the Secretary of Energy to honor mid-career U.S. scientists and engineers for exceptional technical contributions and achievements in research and development supporting DOE’s mission and its programs to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States. 

“The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award recognizes some of the nation’s most distinguished mid-career scientists and engineers who are taking research to new heights,” said Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Director of DOE’s Office of Science. “We are excited to honor scientists who have, and will continue to, make an impact on the world and our lives.”

Awards will be considered in each of the following nine categories: Atomic, Molecular, and Chemical Sciences; Biological and Environmental Sciences; Computer, Information, and Knowledge Sciences; Condensed Matter and Materials Sciences; Energy Science and Innovation; Fusion and Plasma Sciences; High Energy Physics; National Security and Nonproliferation; and Nuclear Physics.

Nominations must include statements summarizing the candidate’s achievements and connection to DOE support, three to six letters of support, a curriculum vitae, and a short bibliography. An independent panel of eminent experts will be convened by DOE to review nominations in each award category and inform award recommendation(s) submitted to the Secretary of Energy. Final award selections are made by the Secretary of Energy. Each Lawrence Award category award winner receives a citation signed by the Secretary, a gold-plated medal bearing the likeness of Ernest O. Lawrence, and a $20,000 honorarium. In the event the award is given to more than one individual within an award category, the recipients share the honorarium equally. 

The deadline to submit nominations is 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, May 9, 2024. To read nomination guidelines and submit a nomination visit DOE’s Nomination & Selection Guidelines webpage.

DOE encourages nominations of individuals from underrepresented groups and is committed to fostering safe, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible work, research, and funding environments. Read the Office of Science’s Statement of Commitment for more information. 

Questions may be addressed to [email protected]

The Lawrence Award was established in 1959 to honor the memory of the late E.O. Lawrence, who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the cyclotron (a particle accelerator) and after whom two DOE national laboratories, one in Berkeley and the other in Livermore, California, are named. The Lawrence Award is administered by DOE’s Office of Science.

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