Public Engagement in STEM
The Office of the Provost is excited to open nominations for the new Making a Difference Awards in Public Engagement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). These awards are designed to recognize faculty—and their teams—who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to engaging with the public about STEM research, education, and discovery.
We invite nominations (including self-nominations) of full-time NYU faculty whose work exemplifies consistent and effective public engagement in STEM. Forms of engagement may include, but are not limited to, outreach programs to K–12 students, giving public lectures, science communication through traditional and new media, community science, contributions to policy or public discourse, development of educational content for non-academic audiences, public-facing exhibitions, development of public tools based on scholarly research, and social entrepreneurship.
Eligibility
Any faculty member, staff member, or student can nominate any full-time tenured, tenure-track, or continuing contract faculty member at NYU New York, NYU Abu Dhabi, or NYU Shanghai who has demonstrated a sustained and meaningful impact on public understanding of science, fostering dialogue, access, or trust between science and society. Nominees do not need to be appointed in a STEM department. Adjunct faculty, visiting faculty, and members of NYU’s senior leadership team are not eligible.
In cases where the collaborative nature of public engagement is central to the work, nominating a single individual may not fully capture the scope or impact of the effort. To recognize the importance of team-based approaches and the bidirectional partnerships between NYU and external organizations or communities, nominations may be submitted for a project team. Teams may include NYU faculty, staff, students, and external partners who have contributed significantly to the project’s public engagement goals. At least one team member must be full-time NYU faculty.
Process
Nominations may be submitted by any member of the NYU community and may be co-signed by multiple individuals. The nominator(s) should submit the following materials through this form by Friday, December 4, at 11:59 pm.
- Nominee’s name, title, school, and department or unit
- Nominee’s CV (PDF only). If you are nominating someone else, you can reach out to them and ask them for their CV.
- Letter of nomination highlighting the nominee’s accomplishments in public engagement in STEM, signed by the nominator(s) (two pages maximum; PDF only). This also applies if you are nominating yourself.
- Only if you are nominating yourself: The names and email addresses of two members of the NYU community whom we can contact for supporting letters.
- Optional supporting document. This might include public engagement products that are not easily publicly accessible, as well as documentation of impact and effectiveness (ten pages maximum; PDF only).
An interdisciplinary committee of scientists and senior administrators across schools, departments, and units will review the nomination materials. They will assess the following criteria:
- Broader impacts or societal impact of the work
- Collaboration within the NYU community
- Collaboration with communities beyond NYU
- Durability and generalizability
We anticipate making up to three awards. Awardees will receive $1,000 ($2,000 for teams) and be invited to present their work in a university-wide symposium to celebrate public engagement in STEM.
Thank you for considering submitting a nomination! By doing so, you are helping us celebrate and elevate NYU faculty who are making STEM more accessible and impactful beyond the academy. Questions can be directed to facultyadvance@nyu.edu.