Balzan Prize 2023
Sponsor
International Balzan Prize Foundation
Description
Every year, four Balzan Prizes are awarded to scholars and scientists who are distinguished in their fields on an international level. The aim of the Balzan Prize is to foster culture, the sciences and the most outstanding humanitarian initiatives of peace and brotherhood among peoples, regardless of nationality, race or creed.
The subject areas for the 2023 prizes are:
- World Literature
- Evolution of Humankind: Paleoanthropology
- Evolution of Humankind: Ancient DNA and Human Evolution
- High resolution images: from planetary to cosmic objects
Eligibility
The subject areas in which the awards are granted are rotated, and this special characteristic of the Balzan Prize ensures the promotion and recognition of new or emerging fields of study or research that may have been overlooked by other international awards. No more than four prizes may be awarded in any one year. Self-nominations are not accepted.
Prize
A monetary prize of 750,000 Swiss Franc (approximately CAD $995,550). The winners are each required to allocate half of their prize money to funding research projects carried out preferably by young scholars or scientists in their respective fields.
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 [1].
Deadlines
If College-level review is required, your College will communicate its earlier internal deadlines.
| Type | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Internal Deadline | If you wish to be considered for VPR nomination:
Career interruptions due to parental leave, family care, extended illness, or community responsibilities will not negatively impact the committee’s assessment of a candidate’s research productivity. These will be taken into consideration when EOIs are assessed. | |
External Deadline | If your nomination will be submitted by a nominator other than the VPR, please submit directly to the sponsor by the external deadline. Please also submit a copy of the full nomination and OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca [4] by the external deadline. |
How to Apply
The Vice-President (Research) encourages nominations for this prestigious award, and will serve as nominator for those nominees recommended by the Honours and Awards Advisory Committee. If you wish to nominate a colleague or to be considered for VPR nomination:
- We recommend discussing your interest in this award with your College Research Manager and Associate Dean (Research).
- Complete the Expression of Interest document [2].
- Send the completed Expression of Interest document and a CV to research.honours@uoguelph.ca [3] and copy your College Research Manager by the internal deadline.
As this is an international prize, the University may engage the Global Excellence Initiative [5] to coordinate external review of nominations.
Career interruptions due to parental leave, family care, extended illness, or community responsibilities will not negatively impact the committee’s assessment of a candidate’s research productivity. These will be taken into consideration when EOIs are assessed.
If your nomination will be submitted by a different nominee, and therefore does not require the Vice-President's endorsement, please submit a complete nomination and signed OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca [4] by the external deadline.
For More Information
For more information, please contact research.honours@uoguelph.ca [3] or balzan@balzan.it [6] or visit the Balzan Prize website [7].