Cottrell STAR Award

• 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 2026 award, eligibility will be limited to Cottrell Scholars who received their award in 2014 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.
• Nominees should have earned tenure in a Chemistry, Physics or Astronomy Department, or closely related disciplines in the physical sciences, at a research university or primarily undergraduate institution in the United States or Canada, and currently hold a faculty or researcher appointment in higher education or at a national laboratory. Nominees should be established teacher-scholars with a strong record of impact and leadership in their field and their institution. 

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. MST November 18, 2025, 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.

After the nomination deadline, all eligible 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 their 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. MST January 21, 2026. 

Support letter writers will be contacted by RCSA and must submit their letters by 11:59 p.m. MST February 4, 2026. 

The 2026 STAR Award will be announced in March 2026. 

For questions, contact Silvia Ronco. 

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