UTM Early Career Research Prize

Updated: June 2026

UTM’s Office of the Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation will present one prize annually to an early-career faculty member (within five years of their first tenure-stream academic appointment) in recognition of outstanding achievement in research relative to their career stage. The winner of this prize will receive $2,500 to support their research.

Eligibility

Nominees must be tenure-stream faculty with a primary appointment at UTM, who began their first tenure-stream appointment (at U of T or elsewhere) within the past five years. Career interruptions such as parental leave, medical leave, etc., may extend the eligibility window. All questions regarding eligibility should be addressed to funding.ovpri.utm@utoronto.ca. 

A faculty member may be nominated for the prize any number of times, but may receive the prize only once.

Nomination Process

Candidates for this prize must be nominated by the Chair or Director of their academic unit. We encourage Chairs and Directors to work with Associate Chairs or Associate Directors, Research in the identification of candidates and the preparation of nomination packages.

Adjudication Process

Each nomination package will be adjudicated by referees in the nominee’s broad disciplinary area. All referees will then meet as one committee chaired by a member of the OVPRI academic leadership team (VPRI or Associate VPRI) to discuss their nominees and arrive at a recommendation for a winner.

The adjudication committee will consider it a priority to reflect the diversity of disciplines at UTM in its awarding of these prizes, especially over any given period of three to five years.

Evaluation Criteria

The adjudication committee will evaluate nomination packages with reference to the following criteria:

• Evidence of the nominee’s outstanding research contributions to their field relative to their career stage, regardless of whether these contributions are traditional or non-traditional
• Evidence of the nominee’s emerging international reputation as a researcher
• Evidence of the nominee’s future promise as an outstanding researcher

As this is a multidisciplinary award that aims to recognize outstanding researchers in a variety of fields, we recognize that these criteria are broadly defined, and that what constitutes evidence will vary significantly from discipline to discipline. Please see the instructions for the nomination letter below for guidance on how to address your letter to a multidisciplinary committee.

Nomination Guidelines

We encourage Chairs and Directors to consider nominating candidates from federally designated equity-seeking groups: racialized individuals; Indigenous Peoples; persons with disabilities; and women and gender equity-seeking groups.

A complete nomination package will include the following documents:

1. Nomination Letter (up to 3 pages)

This letter from the principal nominator should explain in detail the rationale for the nomination, with a focus on the criteria listed above. It should also include a rationale for the choice of external referees.

As this letter is addressed to a multidisciplinary committee of adjudicators, nominators should take this opportunity to clearly outline how research excellence is measured in the nominee’s discipline, particularly for early-career researchers. When describing these disciplinary norms, please also explain how the nominee exceeds the standard of excellence: i.e., what makes their research contributions not only excellent but truly outstanding?

The U of T Honours and Awards Office had developed the following helpful resources on preparing nomination letters:

• How to Write an Impactful Award Nomination
• Writing Compelling Narratives for Award Dossiers

2. Curriculum Vitae

The nominee’s c.v. may be in any format, and should speak to the evaluation criteria.

3. Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation should be solicited from two internationally recognized scholars in the nominee’s field. As these letters are crucial evidence for the criterion of “emerging international reputation,” they should come from referees beyond the University of Toronto. Referees should be capable of evaluating the nominee at arm’s-length, e.g., they should not be the nominee’s former supervisors or collaborators.

Submission Instructions

Complete nomination packages should be submitted via the online nomination form, and are due by November 20, 2026.

Results

Principal nominators will be notified of the results of the competition by email. Nominees are not notified directly.

In the case of an unsuccessful application, general feedback may be provided upon request.

Questions

Any questions about this program may be directed to funding.ovpri.utm@utoronto.ca. 

Past Winners