Cottrell Scholars

Cottrell STAR Award

Cottrell STAR (Science Teaching and Research) Award

The Cottrell STAR Award is designed to recognize the outstanding research and educational accomplishments of members of the Cottrell Scholar community, including Holland Award recipients. Additionally, the award serves to encourage the improvement of science education at American and Canadian universities and colleges and raise the national profile of the Cottrell Scholars and Holland Awardees. The STAR award consists of a $5,000 cash prize to the recipient. STAR award applications are initiated by nominations.

The STAR Award is highlighted in two venues. STAR awardees are invited to give a plenary talk at the summer Cottrell Scholar Conference, and RCSA promotes the award in professional journals. The 2024 Cottrell Scholar Conference will take place July 17-19 in Tucson.

Eligibility

  • Nominees must be at least 12 years beyond the year of their Cottrell Scholar Award and hold a faculty appointment at a research university or primarily undergraduate institution in the United States or Canada. For the 2024 award, eligibility will be limited to Cottrell Scholars who received their award in 2012 or earlier.
  • Holland Awardees are eligible to apply, regardless of the year of their award.
  • No submissions are accepted from previous recipients of a STAR or TREE award.

Nomination and Application Processes

STAR submissions start with a brief nomination from a Cottrell Scholar, Holland Awardee or a nominee’s institutional colleague who is knowledgeable of the nominee’s teacher-scholar activities. Nominations must include the name of the nominee, their current institutional affiliation, and a short paragraph (up to 150 words) describing why the nominee is highly qualified for a STAR Award. All nominations must be completed by 11:59 p.m. PST November 15, 2023, in RCSA’s Proposal Review and Information System Manager (PRISM). Self-nominations are accepted.

Nominators must have an account in PRISM in order to complete the Cottrell STAR or IMPACT Nomination form.  New users create an account in the New User section at https://prism.rescorp.org. The system will prompt you to complete the required registration form, then review and accept the terms and conditions of our system. You will receive an email from prism@rescorp.org with a link to set your password. Once logged in, review Basic Information and complete Diversity & Inclusion Questionnaire. To start the Cottrell STAR nomination process, go to My Applications and click “New Application.” From the list of Open Calls, click Apply on the Cottrell STAR or IMPACT Nomination row.

After the nomination deadline, all nominees are contacted by RCSA and invited to submit an application via PRISM. Complete application packages contain the following materials: (i) contact information for the two individuals writing letters of support; (ii) a two-page bio-sketch listing the most significant publications, awards, and honors; and (iii) a four-page essay that has two components of equal weight. The first part of the essay must describe the nominee’s Transformational Research, which could be a single ground-breaking publication or a larger body of work that has had a transformative impact on a field of research. The second part must describe the nominee’s Excellence in Education, which again could be a single example (e.g., curriculum transformation, outreach program, textbook) or a larger body of work (e.g., continuous national leadership) that clearly distinguishes the accomplishments of the nominee. Educational accomplishments that reach beyond the nominee’s home institution will be considered as particularly meritorious. 

Two support letters must be provided for the STAR Award. One letter must come from a relevant administrator at the nominee’s institution (e.g., Vice President for Research, Provost, or Dean of the College) who can attest to the nominee’s outstanding research and educational activities. The second letter must come from a Cottrell Scholar or Holland Awardee. Support letters should highlight the exceptional research and educational accomplishments of the nominee that clearly identify the candidate as an outstanding teacher-scholar who merits a STAR Award – an individual whose research and teaching activities have broad impact in her/his disciplinary field and on student learning. In-depth support letters which make a compelling case for the impact of both research and education accomplishments are necessary for a successful submission. View a complete list of Cottrell Scholars. Holland Awardees are listed here.

Applicants must submit complete application packages (does not include letters of support) by 11:59 p.m. PST January 17, 2024

Support letter writers will be contacted by RCSA and must submit their letters by 11:59 p.m. PST January 26, 2024

The 2024 STAR Award will be announced in March 2024

For questions, contact Silvia Ronco

Selection Process

A selection committee of members of the Cottrell Scholar community reviews applications and makes recommendations to the RCSA President.