Guidelines and Procedures for the Excellence in Research & Creative Activities Award

Overview

The Excellence in Research and Creative Activities Award is designed to acknowledge and recognize consistently outstanding accomplishments in research and creative activities conducted by the University at Albany faculty. Faculty members are nominated by their colleagues for this award.

Nominations should be submitted electronically to Elisa López in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at [email protected] by November 30, 2023. 

Guidelines for preparing the nominations are as follows:

 

Eligibility Requirements

At the time of nomination, candidates must have completed at least three continuous academic years of full-time employment in the past five years at the University at Albany. Candidates must hold full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty positions or be research associates with full-time, permanent appointments. 
 

General Restrictions on Eligibility

Individuals holding the title of Distinguished Professor may not be nominated for this award.

Individuals holding the title of lecturer or titles of qualified academic rank (preceded by the designation “visiting” or other similar designations) may not be nominated.

Past recipients of an Excellence in Research and Creative Activities Award (formerly Excellence in Research Award) may not be nominated for this award.

 

Nomination Procedure

Because this award is based on colleagues’ nominations, it is preferable that the nominee remain unaware of the nomination. The nominator must inform the nominee’s immediate supervisor and dean/director/unit head of the nomination. All deliberations of the campus committee will remain confidential.

The nomination packet must consist of the following: 

  1. Nomination checklist
     

  2. Cover letter, in a single sheet, including: 

    • Nominee name, rank, department and school/college/unit

    • Title or description of the work on which the nomination is based

    • Nominator(s) name(s) — Note: Nominators may be contacted for additional information.
       

  3. Documentation on the impact of the nominee’s research and creative activities, in language understood by individuals outside the discipline and in no more than 10 pages. The narrative should explicitly address each of the relevant selection criteria below. It should also contextualize the nominee’s contribution to their field(s) of scholarship by explaining the specific significance within the field(s). When relevant, this should include the context about the normally expected rate and types of publications, and whether research in the nominee’s field is typically more collaborative or individualistic. 
     

  4. Nominee’s current curriculum vitae (CV) 
     

  5. At least three letters of recommendation from external peers/references, accompanied by short bios of the letter writers. If there are letters of this kind on file for appointment, tenure and promotion, or for some other award in the last three years, these letters can be used. Other materials from the nominee’s tenure and promotion file should not be included unless they address some of the main criteria. At least one letter of recommendation should be written specifically in support of this award. 

 

Selection Criteria

The selection criteria for these awards shall include, but are not limited to, the following (Note: The list order does not reflect the importance of the nominee’s contribution, and some items may not be relevant to a nominee’s discipline or type of scholarship): 

  • A sustained record of research publications in peer-reviewed journals, research monographs and/or research-oriented texts;  

  • Publication awards or other forms of honorary recognition; 

  • Publications by others in the field that make substantial use of the nominee’s publications; 

  • Patterns of citation of the nominee’s work that make it clear that the work has had substantial positive impact on the field; 

  • Translations of the publications into other languages and other ways of using the nominee’s work internationally; 

  • Record of presenting at national and/or international conferences;    

  • List of invited plenary and keynote speeches at professional meetings; 

  • Presentation of papers published in conference proceedings and/or digests; 

  • National and international awards and other forms of honorary recognition of research accomplishment; 

  • Graduate students supervised by the nominee and other forms of professional mentorship;  

  • Grants and fellowships received over the course of the nominee’s career. Information on external grant record should include whether the nominee is the principal investigator and should address the general availability of funding in the nominee’s field; 

  • Patents awarded; 

  • Work that has had an influence beyond academia — this might include influences of the nominee’s work on such areas as public policy or professional, governmental or educational practices;  

  • One-person exhibitions, musical compositions, shows or creative writings of international stature and visibility that have received extensive reviews in the critical press; 

  • Performances for which the nominee is a key contributor (for example: directing, lighting design, solo orchestral performer, etc.) with international visibility and extensive critical reviews; 

  • Inclusion of works in permanent collections, retrospectives and other forms of external recognition and acclaim; and

  • Contributions to highly visible, juried exhibitions or performances at the national and international levels. 

 

Evaluation Procedures

The Council on Research, or its subcommittee on award nominations, will evaluate the nominations and forward recommendations to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development. As an ex-officio member of the Council on Research, the Vice President for Research and Economic Development may participate in the Council’s deliberations.  

Evaluators will review all the information relevant for selection of a successful candidate and may request additional information.