Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists is an American science prize established in 2007 through a partnership between the Blavatnik Family Foundation, headed by the Soviet/Ukrainian Odessa-born businessman Len Blavatnik chairman of Access Industries, and the New York Academy of Sciences, headed by president Nicholas Dirks. History The Blavatnik Award is a cash grant awarded annually to faculty and postdoctoral researchers in the life and physical sciences and engineers under the age of 42 who work at institutions in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The first Blavatnik Awards were presented in New York City on Monday, November 12, 2007. On June 3, 2013, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences announced the expansion of the faculty competition to include young scientists from institutions throughout the United States. In April 2017, the Blavatnik Awards program was expanded to the United Kingdom (UK) and Israel. By the end of 2022, the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists will have awarded prizes totaling US$13.6 million; Blavatnik Award recipients have hailed from 48 countries across six continents.
Blavatnik National Awards are for faculty-rank scientists and engineers in Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Life Sciences. Blavatnik Regional Awards are for postdoctoral scientists working in the fields of Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Life Sciences in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom are for young, faculty-rank scientists and engineers from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England. Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel are for young faculty-rank scientists and engineers early in their independent research careers.
U.S. Regional Postdoctoral Competition
The regional program recognizes postdoctoral researchers working at institutions in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The regional program accepts nominations for scientists working in the life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Nominations are accepted from institutions in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Submissions for the regional program are reviewed by a Judging Panel of senior scientists, science editors, and past Blavatnik winners from the Mid-Atlantic area. As of 2013, winners of the postdoctoral competition receive US$30,000 and finalists receive US$10,000, each in unrestricted cash prizes.
Past U.S. Regional Winners and Finalists
Year Winners Finalists 2007 Leon Bottou, NEC Labs America, Computer Science
George Malliaras, Cornell University, Nanotechnology
Ruslan Medzhitov, Yale University, Immunology
Milan Stojanovic, Columbia University, Biotechnology
Leslie Vosshall, The Rockefeller University, Behavioral Science
Antje Baeumner, Cornell University, Environmental Engineering
Christoph Bregler, New York University, Computer Science
Geoffrey Coates, Cornell University, Organic Chemistry
Antonio Giraldez, Yale University, Developmental Biology
Tarun Kapoor, Rockefeller University, Cell Biology
Scott N. Keeney, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Molecular Biology
Philip Kim, Columbia University, Condensed Matter Physics
Colin Nuckolls, Columbia University, Organic Chemistry
Kathryn Uhrich, Rutgers University, Green Chemistry 2008 Andrey Pisarev, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Molecular & Cellular Biology
Steven Gubser, Princeton University, Nuclear & Particle Physics
Andrew Houck, Princeton University, Electrical Engineering
Laura Landweber, Princeton University, Evolutionary Biology
Thomas Muir, The Rockefeller University, Biochemistry
Alexei Aravin, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Developmental Biology
Matthew Evans, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Microbiology
Valerie Horsley, Yale University, Developmental Biology
Andreas Keller, The Rockefeller University, Neuroscience
Shobha Vasudevan, Harvard University, Cell & Molecular Biology
Daphne Bavelier, University of Rochester, Cognitive Neuroscience
Geoffrey Coates, Cornell University, Organic Chemistry
Christine Jacobs-Wagner, Yale University, Cell & Molecular Biology
Eric Lai, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Developmental Biology
Ken Shepard, Columbia University, Electrical Engineering
Saeed Tavazoie, Columbia University, Genetics & Genomics 2009 Sreekanth Chalasani, The Rockefeller University, Behavioral Science
Paul Chirik, Cornell University, Chemical Biology
Ofer Feinerman, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Computational Biology
Carmala Garzione, University of Rochester, Geology
Rebecca Oppenheimer, American Museum of Natural History, Astrophysics
Eva Pastalkova, Rutgers University, Neuroscience
Alexander Pechen, Princeton University, Theoretical Physics
Shai Shaham, The Rockefeller University, Developmental Biology
Tamas Horvath, Yale University, Molecular Neuroscience
Lam Hui, Columbia University, Astrophysics
Daniel Sigman, Princeton University, Geology
Denis Zorin, New York University, Computer Science 2010 Zoltan Haiman, Columbia University, Astronomy
Yaron Lipman, Princeton University, Computer Science
Michal Lipson, Cornell University, Nanotechnology
Haitao Liu, Columbia University, Nanotechnology
Evgeny Nudler, New York University, Biochemistry
Daniela Schiller, New York University, Behavioral Science
Song-Hai Shi, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Neuroscience
Nicolas Reyes, Institut Pasteur, Physiology & Biophysics
Agnel Sfeir, New York University, Cell Biology
Elza Erkip, Polytechnic University of NYU, Electrical Engineering
David Evans, Yale University, Geology & Geophysics
Neal Weiner, New York University, Particle Physics 2011 Johannes Gehrke, Cornell University, Computer Science
Szabolcs Marka, Columbia University, Astrophysics
Frank Oury, Columbia University, Physiology
Valentino Tosatti, Columbia University, Mathematics
Roberto Bonasio, New York University, Biochemistry
Mary Kay Lobo, University of Maryland, Cellular Neuroscience
Shaun Olsen, Medical University of South Carolina, Structural Biology
Ruth Van de Water, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Nuclear & Particle Physics
Robert Anderson, City College CUNY, Ecology
Charalampos Kalodimos, Rutgers University, Structural Biology
Jun Korenaga, Yale University, Geology
Olga Troyanskaya, Princeton University, Computational Biology
Gerard Wysocki, Princeton University, Electrical Engineering 2012 B. Andrei Bernevig, Princeton University, Particle Physics
Andrey Feklistov, The Rockefeller University, Structural Biology
Jason Fridley, Syracuse University, Ecology
Alison Galvani, Yale University, Epidemiology
Michael Hahn, Columbia University, Astronomy
Robert Johnston, New York University, Developmental Biology
Assaf Naor, New York University, Computer Science
Elisa Oricchio, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Clinical Medicine
Nicholas Stavropoulos, The Rockefeller University, NeuroscienceMichael Collins, Columbia University, Computer Science
Wei Min, Columbia University, Physical Chemistry 2013 David Blei, Princeton University, Computer Science
Jonathan Fisher, The Rockefeller University, Behavioral Science
Kristjan Haule, Rutgers University, Condensed Matter Physics
Patrick Holland, University of Rochester, Inorganic Chemistry
Samie Jaffrey, Weill Cornell Medical College, Chemical Biology
Frans Pretorius, Princeton University, Astrophysics
Rachel Rosen, Columbia University, Astrophysics
Bi-Sen Ding, Weill Cornell Medicine, Physiology
Emily Hodges, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Genetics & Genomics
Mariangela Lisanti, Princeton University, Nuclear & Particle Physics
Jason MacGurn, Vanderbilt University, Cell Biology
Xiankai Sun, Yale University, Electrical Engineering 2014 Clément Hongler, Columbia University, Applied Mathematics
Jeremy Palmer, Princeton University, Chemical Engineering
Panteleimon Rompolas, Yale University, Developmental Biology
Stephen Brohawn, The Rockefeller University, Biochemistry & Structural Biology
Dilek Colak, Weill Cornell Medicind, Neuroscience
Nathaniel Craig, Rutgers University, Theoretical Physics
Knut Drescher, Princeton University, Immunology & Microbiology
Xiaowei Hou, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Biochemistry & Structural Biology
Jérémie Palacci, New York University, Condensed Matter Physics 2015 Hani Goodarzi, The Rockefeller University, Genetics & Genomics
Arash Nikoubashman, Princeton University, Chemical Engineering
Nicolás Young, Columbia University, Geology & Geophysics
Allyson Friedman, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Neuroscience
Ziv Shulman, Rockefeller University, Immunology & Microbiology
Xiang Gao, Yale University, Biochemistry & Structural Biology
Jinzhong Lin, Yale University, Biochemistry & Structural Biology
Yang Liu, Princeton University, Electrical Engineering
Dennis Perepelitsa, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Nuclear & Particle Physics 2016 William Anderegg, Princeton University, Ecology
Tomoyasu Mani, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Physical Chemistry
Jian Li, Princeton University, Condensed Matter Physics
Kate Meyer, Weill Cornell Medical College, Molecular & Cellular Biology
Rachel Perry, Yale University, Biomedical Engineering & Biotechnology
Matthieu Gagnon, Yale University, Biochemistry & Structural Biology
Kuang Yu, Princeton University, Theoretical Chemistry
Xi Chen, Columbia University, Materials Science & Nanotechnology
Eli Visbal, Astrophysics & Cosmology 2017 Chao Lu, The Rockefeller University, Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics
Andrew Ilott, New York University, Physical Chemistry
June Huh, Institute for Advanced Study, Mathematics
Ataman Sendoel , The Rockefeller University, Molecular & Cellular Biology
Eunyong Park, The Rockefeller University, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Alan Healy, Yale University, Chemical Biology
Wilhelm Palm, Memorial Sloane Kettering, Biochemistry & Structural Biology
Douglas Stanford, Institute for Advanced Study, Theoretical Physics
Chia Wei (Wade) Hsu, Yale University, Condensed Matter Physics2018Shruti Naik, PhD, nominated by The Rockefeller University (now at NYU School of Medicine) Lingyan Shi, PhD, nominated by Columbia University (now at the University of California, San Diego)
Lu Wei, PhD, nominated by Columbia University (now at Caltech) Samuel Bakhoum, MD, PhD, nominated by Weill Cornell Medicine (now at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), Life Sciences Zhe Zhang, PhD, The Rockefeller University, Life Sciences
Lucia Gualtieri, PhD, Princeton University, Physical Sciences & Engineering
Peter Schauss, PhD, nominated by Princeton University (now at the University of Virginia), Physical Sciences & Engineering
Niankai Fu, PhD, Cornell University, Chemistry
Priyanka Sharma, PhD, Stony Brook University, Chemistry2019Laura Duvall, PhD, nominated by The Rockefeller University (now at Columbia University)
Netta Engelhardt, PhD, nominated by Princeton University (now at Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Juntao Ye, PhD, nominated by Cornell University (now at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China)Carla Nasca, PhD, nominated by The Rockefeller University, Life Sciences
Liling Wan, PhD, nominated by The Rockefeller University (now at the University of Pennsylvania), Life Sciences
Derya Akkaynak, PhD, nominated by Princeton University, Physical Sciences & Engineering
Matthew Yankowitz, PhD, nominated by Columbia University (now at the University of Washington), Physical Sciences & Engineering
Yaping Zang, PhD, nominated by Columbia University, Chemistry
Igor Dikiy, PhD, nominated by the Advanced Science Research Center at The Graduate Center, CUNY, Chemistry2020Antonio Fernández-Ruiz, PhD, nominated by New York University
Adrian Price-Whelan, PhD, nominated by Flatiron Institute