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Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize

Award Description

The Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize is an annual award recognizing outstanding achievements in research, scholarship, or artistic creativity by a University of Maryland (“University”) faculty member. The prize is designed to honor highly significant works completed within the past five years. It carries an honorarium of $5,000 and is awarded at the Fall Convocation. This prestigious award aims to celebrate recent, impactful contributions to the faculty member’s academic discipline. Click here to see a list of prior awardees.

Criteria 

The nominee must be a full-time tenure-track or tenured faculty member. The prize can be awarded for a publication, invention, performance, or any other significant academic activity within the nominee's discipline. Each nominee must have performed the significant work of research, scholarship, or artistic creativity in the recent past (within 5 years) while serving as a full-time faculty member at the University. Nominees must be employed by the University during the year in which the nomination is submitted.

Previous recipients of the Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize are not eligible for future nominations.

Note that nomination packets do not roll over from previous years. If a faculty member was nominated previously, updated nomination packages must be submitted for reconsideration.

Nomination Process

Nominations for the Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize must be submitted via the APA system between January and March. Nominators have until March, 31st to submit nomination materials (in PDF format) via the APA portal. 

Each part of the packet should be uploaded separately as searchable and accessible PDF documents. This will facilitate our review of the nomination materials. Information about each document is available on the upload page and below on this page.

  • Nomination Cover Sheet: Names and addresses of the nominee and nominator, along with the title of the work being nominated.
  • Nominee’s CV: A current CV in the standard university template.
  • Letter of Nomination: A letter explaining why the nominee is being honored and how they meet the criteria for the award. Note that the Kirwan Prize is not for lifetime achievement but for specific work done in the last 5 years. Letter of nomination should either be from Chair or Dean.
  • Letters of Support: At least two (no more than three) letters from individuals outside the University, endorsing the nominee's achievements.
  • Additional Supporting Material: Relevant materials such as award announcements, media reviews, citations, or analyses.