I am delighted to announce that the NIH is now accepting submissions for a new initiative that rewards effective strategies for enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in research environments: the NIH Institutional Excellence in DEIA in Biomedical and Behavioral Research Prize Competition.
The prize competition aims to recognize transformative cultures, systems, projects, and processes developed by academic institutions to promote inclusive excellence and create environments that foster and value a culture of DEIA. The prize competition will also identify practices for enhancing DEIA within faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and student bodies that can be disseminated for adoption by other institutions.
NIH will award up to 10 prizes of $100,000 each through the competition. Up to half of the prizes will be set aside for consideration for limited-resourced institutions. NIH may also recognize additional entries as honorable mentions with nonmonetary awards.
To participate, registration is required by Tuesday, September 12, 2023, at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Entries are being accepted through Tuesday, September 26, 2023. Please visit the prize competition website for information about eligibility, participation, and submission requirements. I encourage submissions from minority-serving institutions and other institutions with a track record of training individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to attend the prize competition pre-submission webinar on May 17, 2023. In addition to providing an overview of this new initiative, we will respond to questions about the prize competition. Please submit your questions to questions@NIHdeiaprize.org before the webinar. A recording of the event will be available for those unable to attend.
My office is administering the prize competition, which is cosponsored by UNITE and 24 NIH institutes and centers. Feedback from a 2022 Request for Information informed various aspects of the competition.
I am excited about the prize competition’s potential to engage and inspire the biomedical and behavioral research community to effect systemic, sustainable change—and receive recognition for these critical efforts. Please share this announcement and urge those eligible in your networks to register and submit a prize competition entry.