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Annual Research Awards

The Office of Research and Economic Development invites nominations for our new awards honoring excellence in a variety of dimensions of research. Awardees will receive a $250 gift card which counts towards taxable income, or faculty can opt to receive the funds in their professional development account. 

ELIGIBILITY: Nominees must be faculty or staff at the University of South Alabama. Nominees may only receive one award, regardless of how many categories in which they may be independently nominated. 

HOW TO NOMINATE: Nominations may be submitted in InfoReady by anyone at the University of South Alabama (faculty, staff, or student). A narrative justification must be provided, as well as the names of two additional references who could support the nomination.

Awardees will be announced at our annual Research Appreciation Reception to be held on Thursday, April 16, 2026.

Award Categories for 2026

This bridge builder fosters collaboration between different departments or disciplines. Evidence could include (but is not limited to) the following: specific examples of collaborations; outcomes of those collaborations such as publications or other products, funded grants, intellectual property, policy, infrastructure, community impact; length of collaboration; number of collaborations; best practices supporting collaborations, etc.
This award recognizes contributions by researchers from any academic discipline who help to improve lives and serve society through their work. The award includes people who demonstrate public impact either through public outreach or dissemination of their work, or through direct public partnership and engagement with a particular community. Many definitions of community are acceptable, so please identify what is meant by "community," e.g. the ALS patient community, the Gulf Coast shrimping community, the Prichard, AL community. Evidence could include (but is not limited to) the following: specific examples of community partnerships; descriptions of outcomes or impact ranging from policy, infrastructure, documented change over time, numbers of people served, etc.

This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional diligence in adhering to regulations such as IRB, IACUC, or IBC; go beyond compliance to actively promote responsible conduct of research or a positive research culture in their department; and through their example, demonstrate high standards of ethical conduct and accountability in research.

This award honors a faculty member who provides outstanding research mentoring to junior faculty. (This is NOT an award for mentoring students.) Evidence could include (but is not limited to) the following: mentee testimonials, colleague or chair testimonials, numbers of mentees, length of time as a research mentor, impacts of the nominee's mentorship on department/university faculty or the discipline as a whole, etc.

This award is intended to highlight a significant scholarly or creative achievement. Because these accomplishments will look very different in different disciplines, please provide BOTH a description of the accomplishment AND why it is significant. Examples could include (but are not limited to) the following: publications, exhibitions, performances, a significant contribution to the field, a body of work, etc.

This faculty member regularly provides undergraduate or graduate students with opportunities to do high-level research. Evidence could include (but is not limited to) the following: student testimonials, colleague or chair testimonials, student publications, awards students have won, numbers of students engaged in research, length of time engaging students in research, impacts on student success and/or personal and professional development, etc.

Nominate who you like for whatever aspect of research excellence you like; just be sure to provide a good justification. Importantly, this nomination should avoid duplication with any of the other award categories. Your justification, which will be shared publicly with voters, must provide both an explanation of what accomplishment is being nominated and why this is significant. Voting will be opened up on March 23, 2026.