Prizes and Awards

Introduction

• The Bhattacharyya Award is an annual award to celebrate collaboration between academia and industry. A prize of £25,000 will be awarded to the team who best show how industry and universities can work together through sustained, strategic collaboration.
• The government announced the award in July 2019 as a tribute to Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya CBE FREng FRS, the Regius Professor of Manufacturing at the University of Warwick and founder of the WMG (previously known as Warwick Manufacturing Group). Lord Bhattacharyya was a pioneering advocate for collaboration between industry and academia and for the power of such partnerships to make real world impact.

Criteria

• The collaboration is expected to have lasted at least five years, still be active at the point of submission, and have spanned across multiple projects, grants, and activities. The collaboration should be focused around an academic team and one or more declared industrial partners – it should not be restricted to a single lead academic but may reflect a wide institutional partnership.
• Submissions must address the following criteria:
  • Clear evidence of sustained, strategic collaboration lasting at least five years and spanning multiple projects and activities.
  • Why the collaboration is exceptional and deserving of national recognition.
  • How the collaboration is original and distinctive.
  • How the collaboration has specifically benefited the delivery of the institution’s goals.
  • How the collaboration has benefited UK society and globally.

Eligibility

• The Bhattacharyya Award is open to all UK universities and colleges.
• Universities and colleges are invited to submit one submission per year.
• Submissions may be in any discipline. This award is open to submissions which demonstrate exceptional collaborations between academia and industry from all disciplines and not only those within the Academy’s engineering and technology remit. The purpose of this award is to celebrate the very best of academia-industry collaboration as a whole and submissions are encouraged from the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, medical sciences and biological sciences.
• Submissions may be multidisciplinary or have a more general theme. Cross-university collaborations are eligible, provided they involve genuine, substantive partnerships between institutions. However, at least one industry partner is required for any collaboration.

A submission consists of the following information:

• Name and contact details of the lead collaborators from industry and academia
• Basic details about the collaboration: This includes the collaboration start date and a 10-word title of the submission.
• Narrative submission (not more than 10 A4 pages): This should provide a description of the collaboration; it may include images and/or graphics to illustrate its nature and its effect. The structure of the submission is not prescribed but it should clearly demonstrate, with evidence, how the work meets the criteria for the award (see criteria above).

Full information on the prize can be found on the RAEng website.

Please note that Imperial may only submit one application at an institutional level. Therefore, an internal selection process will be used. We kindly ask HoDs to submit a maximum of one nomination per Department. Nominations will be reviewed by RAG or a subgroup of RAG chaired by the Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise). 

VPRE Office submission deadline:  Sunday 19th January 2025

Imperial has been invited to submit nominations to the following 2025 Balzan Prizes:

• Atoms and Ultra-Precise Measurement of Time
• Gene and Gene-Modified Cell Therapy

Call for nominations:

• Each of the 2025 Balzan Prizes is 750,000 Swiss francs.
• Half the Prize money will be awarded to the Prize winner in recognition of her/his work. The other half will be destined by the Prizewinner to a research project involving young researchers or research groups.
• The research proposal will be subject to the approval of the General Prize Committee.

In order to be valid, the nominations must be supported by the following documents:

• a report (1-2 pages) on the reasons for applying (in Italian, French, English or German);
• a brief description (one paragraph, in non-specialist language/terms) of the most significant results obtained by the candidate with reference to the subject area of the award;
• a list of the ten most important publications (complete with bibliographical citations): one or two should be highlighted as recommended reading for non-specialists;
• a curriculum vitae specifying, among other things, the position currently held, the main academic activities carried out, place and date of birth, nationality, residence and address;
• a recent photograph (in high resolution, jpg by e-mail to balzan@balzan.it), complete with copyright where applicable.

Additional specifications:

• Prizes may be awarded to individuals or to small working teams who have produced results jointly. It is to be noted that more than one candidate may be nominated for each prize subject. Furthermore, they do not necessarily have to be part of the institution of the individual making the nomination, nor of the same nationality.
• Self-applications will not be considered.

For further information and to see the list of previous Balzan Prize winners visit the Balzan website: https://www.balzan.org/en 

VPRE Office submission deadline: Friday 14th February 2025

Background:

• The establishment of the King Faisal Foundation is a token of recognition to an exceptional man in a manner that befits his achievements and honor his memory. Our father’s humanitarian endeavors were devoted to ensuring people’s welfare anywhere, especially in poor countries. His vision was universal at a time when most people were concerned with national issues. Throughout his life, he was keen to provide moral and material support to promote the development of many countries around the world, through long-term economic and social welfare projects. In this regard, the King Faisal Foundation is an international philanthropic organization that strives to embody King Faisal’s dream and aims to make the world a better place by means of charitable projects that are meant to reach the poor and meet some of their urgent needs. As we start our journey in steady steps, our hope is to make that journey great and worthwhile. 
• The idea of establishing the King Faisal Prize came out of the belief in the importance of knowledge and science in opening broader horizons in all fields. It also confirms the cause for which the Foundation was established, which is to spread goodness and hope everywhere, and acknowledge and reward the efforts of scholars and intellectuals in the development and welfare of mankind. From the day it was first established in 1979, the King Faisal Prize has been awarded to 275 laureates, from 43 countries. Many of the Prize’s objectives have been reached, and the Foundation has assumed an outstanding leadership in its efforts to honor some of the world’s scholars and scientists has been well acknowledged. In this regard, 21 among the Prize recipients in medicine and sciences were subsequently awarded the Nobel Prize in their respective fields. 

Nominations:

• The General Secretariat of King Faisal Prize has invited Imperial to nominate qualified candidate/s to the King Faisal Prize in Science in the field of “Mathematics” and for King Faisal Prize in Medicine on the topic of “Discoveries Transforming Obesity Therapeutics” for the Year 2026. 

Prize components:

• A certificate written in Arabic calligraphy featuring the laureate’s name with a brief description of the work for which s/he is awarded the Prize.  
• A commemorative 24-carat, 200-gram gold medallion 
• A sum of SR 750,000 (USD 200,000) 

Nomination Statutes:

• Nominations are accepted from universities, scientific institutions and research centers. 
• Nominations are not accepted from individuals or political parties. 
• Nominated works must be published, likely to benefit mankind and enrich human knowledge. 
• Nominations are not accepted posthumously. 
• Dissertations are not accepted. 
• Laureates of King Faisal Prize shall not be awarded the Prize again. 
• More than one candidate may be nominated, irrespective of their affiliation with the nominating institution. 

Remarks:

• Nominations are judged exclusively on the basis of scholarly merit. 
• Nominations may be submitted digitally via KFP website. 
• Nomination documents and nominated works shall not be returned. 
• Any nomination not fulfilling all conditions and requirements shall be excluded. 
• More than one laureate may share the Prize. 
• The decision of the Prize’s selection committee is final. 
• Laureates will be announced in January 2026, and the prizes will be presented at an official ceremony later in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Requirements:

• A detailed CV with a list of the nominee’s publications. 
• A letter of commitment to present two lectures in his/her field of specialization, at academic institutions in the event s/he is awarded the Prize. 
• A copy of each nominated paper; the total number of nominated papers should not exceed ten (10). 
• A copy of each nominated book and/or book chapter. the total number of nominated books and/or book chapters should not exceed five (5). The book’s title cover should be appended with each nominated book chapter. 
• A recent color-photo of the nominee with high resolution. 
• An official letter of nomination for each nominee separately, adequately justifying the nomination and outlining the nominee’s achievements in the field of the Prize. 
• A list of nominated works. 
• A general information form to be filled by the nominee; this form can be duplicated if more than one candidate is nominated and includes: 
  • Nominee’s Name 
  • Date of Birth 
  • Place of Birth 
  • Nationality 
  • Current Position 
  • Qualification  
  • Field of Specialisation  
  • Summary of Major Achievements 
  • Postal Mailing Address 
  • Contact Details (city code, mobile, country code, email, office phone, home phone) 

VPRE Office submission deadline:  Friday 14th March 2025