Sponsor
International Fertilizer Association
Description
Since 1993, IFA has granted the IFA Norman Borlaug Award to a person whose research or extension work has led to significant advances in crop nutrition. In 2021, IFA decided to expand its awards in recognition that it is important to look at plant nutrition in a new way — a new paradigm that follows a food system approach and pursues multiple socioeconomic, environmental and health outcomes.
The IFA Norman Borlaug Plant Nutrition Award recognizes a large portfolio of research achievements demonstrating that the individual candidate has made significant contributions to knowledge as well as concrete solutions that are essential for achieving the new paradigm.
Fertilizers and those nutrients that occur in nature play a critical role in raising crops and livestock for food security, human nutrition and other uses in the bioeconomy such as recovering nutrients from waste streams and recycling back to crop production. Nutrient production and management must change to nourish crops, improve human nutrition, reduce harmful environmental effects caused by greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient losses, and contribute to the restoration of soil health more effectively. The IFA Science Awards recognize the role that scientists play in advancing and promoting new, more sustainable crop nutrition solutions that would support the five interconnected aims of responsible plant nutrition as outlined in the New Paradigm for Plant Nutrition:
- Emissions and environment
- Nutrition and health
- Soil health
- Waste and recycling
- Income, productivity, efficiency and resilience
Eligibility
The award is offered to individuals (not to teams, organizations or companies) for their research efforts.
Women scientists are particularly encouraged to apply.
This award recognizes a large portfolio of research achievements, demonstrating that the candidate has made significant contributions to knowledge as well as concrete solutions that are essential for achieving the new paradigm for responsible plant nutrition. This may include significant discoveries made in fundamental research, inventions, or novel applied research that could lead to practical solutions. The likely winner of the award will have completed his/her PhD more than 10 years ago and have a strong record of publication and professional activity that has demonstrated their work to be relevant, significant and with impact. Eligibility is restricted to researchers who are still active in science i.e., retired scientists are not eligible.
Prize
The recipient of the IFA Norman Borlaug Award will receive € 10,000 (ten thousand euros) and will be invited as a guest to the IFA Strategic Forum.
Special Notes
Please note that research activities carried out in the context of COVID-19 need to adhere to the University of Guelph COVID-19 research principles, policies, guidelines and processes as they may be updated from time to time and communicated on the Office of Research web-page.
Deadlines
If College-level review is required, your College will communicate its earlier internal deadlines.
| Type | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
External Deadline | Please submit the nomination using the form provided on the IFA Norman Borlaug award web-page. Please also submit a copy of the full nomination and an OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca. |
How to Apply
Nominations must be submitted online, using the application form provided on the IFA Norman Borlaug Award web-page. Please also submit an OR-5 and a completed application to research.services@uoguelph.ca by the external deadline.
For More Information
For more information, contact research.honours@uoguelph.ca or sbeltaief@fertilizer.org. Please also visit the IFA Norman Borlaug award web-page.