Calling Women Grad Students in STEM: Apply Now for a BWIS Prize/Award

Brookhaven Women in Science is accepting applications for three prizes/awards for women graduate students in STEM

March 20, 2024

Brookhaven Women in Science (BWIS), supported in part by Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, is accepting applications from women graduate students for three prizes and awards: the Renate Chasman Award, the Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber Prize, and the Joanna Fowler Award in Chemical and Biochemical Sciences.

Renate Chasman Award

For this year’s Renate Chasman Award, BWIS is pleased to offer two awards of $3,400 each, made possible by generous contributions from the following groups: Long Island Section of the American Nuclear Society (LIANS), National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), Human Resources Directorate, Energy and Photon Sciences Directorate, Nuclear and Particle Physics Directorate, Center for Functional Nanomaterials Users Executive Committee, NSLS-II Users Executive Committee, and the Computational Science Initiative.

Established in 1986, the Chasman Award honors the memory and scientific contributions of Renate Chasman (1932-1977), a noted physicist at Brookhaven Lab. Her work significantly influenced the design of electron particle accelerators around the world, including Brookhaven’s NSLS and its successor, NSLS-II, a $912 million state-of-the-art facility that became operational in 2015.

The award recipients will be announced in the spring. The date, time, location, and online access to the award ceremony will also be announced later this year.

Eligibility requirements

Candidates must be female graduate students at an accredited educational institution doing research at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the STEM disciplines. Candidates receiving their graduate degree on or before May 2024 are not eligible. The application deadline is April 1.

Apply for the Renate W. Chasman Award

For questions about this year’s award or the application requirements, contact BWISChasmanAward@bnl.gov.

2024 Joanna Fowler Award

This year, the Fowler Award will recognize two award recipients, who will each receive $4,000. The 2024 Fowler Award is made possible by the generous support of Brookhaven Lab's Human Resources Directorate and the Energy and Photon Sciences Directorate.

The Fowler Award is given to recognize an outstanding early career (postdoctoral research associate or graduate student) woman scientist who has advanced the chemical or biochemical sciences through research conducted at, or in collaboration with, Brookhaven Lab. 

About Joanna Fowler

Fowler has made significant contributions to brain research and the understanding of diseases such as addiction, which she studied using positron emission tomography (PET), an imaging technique that measures the concentration and movement of a positron-emitting radioisotope in living tissue. 

A member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Fowler has won numerous awards for her research, including the American Chemical Society’s Distinguished Women in Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Award in 2011, the National Medal of Science in 2009, and the NAS Award in Chemical Sciences in 2009, among others. 

Fowler worked at Brookhaven Lab from 1969 to 2014. During that time, she worked in the Chemistry, Medical Science, and Biosciences Departments as a senior chemist and held the position of Director of the Laboratory’s PET Program. At present, she is a senior scientist emeritus in the Biology Department.

To apply for this award

The awardee will have collaborated with Brookhaven Lab scientists, worked at Brookhaven as a Lab-funded graduate student or research associate, or worked as a user at a user facility at Brookhaven Lab.

Candidates must be based at a U.S. institution of higher education or a U.S. National Laboratory (including Brookhaven) during the period of the work that is recognized. Candidates can be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or foreign nationals.

The awardee(s) will be invited to present a lecture hosted by the Brookhaven Lab Chemistry Division, at which time the award will be presented. The award will be advertised to the wider Lab community to broaden awareness of research in the chemical and biochemistry sciences and the impact of women scientists.

The Fowler Award application materials are due by April 12. 

Apply for the Joanna Fowler Award

For questions, contact JoannaFowlerAward@bnl.gov.

Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber Prize

This year’s Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber Prize is $4,000, made possible by donations from the Brookhaven National Laboratory Nuclear and Particle Physics Directorate, Energy and Photon Sciences Directorate, Human Resources Directorate, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Office, as well as BSA and the Long Island Section of the American Nuclear Society. 

About the Prize

Administered by BWIS, the prize was created to honor late physicist Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber for her outstanding contributions in the field of nuclear physics, her advocacy in fostering a general understanding of physics, and her support of women in science. 

The prize is granted to a female graduate student in physics who is recognized for her substantial promise and accomplishment. To be eligible, she must be an enrolled physics graduate student who is a candidate for a doctoral degree, but she should not have graduated with that degree before 2024. She must be performing her thesis research at Brookhaven Lab and/or enrolled in the Department of Physics at Stony Brook University. 

To apply for this award

The application deadline is April 1, 2024. The award recipient will be announced in June and the award ceremony will take place later in the summer.

Apply for the Gertrude Scharff-Goldhaber Prize

The application website includes all the other requirements. Please contact BWISSGAward@bnl.gov for more information.

Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.

Follow @BrookhavenLab on social media. Find us on Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and Facebook.

2024-21756  |  INT/EXT  |  Newsroom