Dean's Award for Excellence in Research

The "Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research” acknowledges and celebrates the critical role that research plays in expanding and enhancing medical students’ training and advancing medical science. We are proud to present two awards:

1. Dean’s Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research
   Recognizes excellence in contributing to understanding and improving fundamental mechanisms and processes in biomedicine and biotechnologies
   
   
2. Dean’s Award for Excellence in Clinical and Translational Research
   Recognizes excellence in clinical and applied (translational) research

To be eligible for consideration for either award, the following criteria must be met:

• All research submitted for consideration must have been undertaken only while the graduating candidate was enrolled in medical school here at UM SOM.
• Applicants may be students who have executed either long- or short-term projects over the course of their medical school training and who have been productive in their research endeavors at UM SOM.
• The award is based on research productivity (see "Required Documents") and not necessarily on research duration. Not all previous applicants or awardees took a leave of absence for research (e.g., independent mentored research, Howard Hughes Fellows, NIH Clinical Research Fellows, etc.).
• Importantly, whereas students who have enrolled in a Master’s degree program while pursuing their MD degrees are eligible to apply, MD-PhD program students are not eligible to apply.

Previous award winners came from broad research backgrounds and executed their projects under various plans (summers, longitudinal studies, fellowships, and leaves of absence for basic, clinical, and translational research, etc.). Therefore, we strongly encourage all graduating medical students who have conducted research during their medical school training and who meet the above criteria to apply.

Applications for the 2024 Dean's Award for Excellence in Research open Friday, December 1, 2023.

• Applications and all required documents are due by Monday, January 8, 2024, at 11:59 PM.
• All applicants will be notified of a final decision by February 23, 2024.

All requirements for consideration should be submitted via the online application form.

The deadline to submit the application form and all required documents is Monday, January 8, 2024, at 11:59 PM.

Required Documents:

1. A brief cover letter from the student indicating which award they are applying for and why (max 150 words).
   • A student may apply for either or both awards. Separate cover letters are required for each award.
     
     
2. Current Curriculum Vitae. Although it is not required, we strongly encourage you to use the OSR CV template, which is based on the NIH BioSketch format.
   
   
3. Complete list of research achievements that have resulted from research initiated since enrollment in the University of Maryland School of Medicine, including
   • Published or accepted manuscripts, with links to the actual article as listed in Pubmed,
   • Presentations at national or international meetings, and
   • Research-related awards, including participation in summer or longer competitive research programs (e.g., American Pediatric Society, PRISM, SPORT, AATS, MSKCC, HSS, RadOnc, etc.). These may also include, but are not necessarily limited to, year-off research programs such as Howard Hughes, Doris Duke, NIH, or similar programs.

Students should review the FAQs for the 2024 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research prior to completing and submitting their application forms.