Overview
The Genetics Society of America Mentorship Award honors an individual member of the Society for excellence in their contributions to the mentorship of geneticists at any career stage.
Nomination Process and Instructions
The committee will evaluate the nominee’s biosketch and lived-experience statement. Self-nominations are welcome and encouraged.
During a two-year cycle, award years will alternate between honoring mentors who are a) PIs or faculty of any kind b) mentors who are non-faculty members—early career scientists (graduate students or postdoctoral scholars) and scientific staff. That is, if a PI or faculty member receives an award one year, the next year, the award will go to an early career scientist or scientific staff member.
Each nomination is valid for four years–there is no need to re-apply if the individual nominated is not selected the first, second, or third year. Nominees may update their packet as needed during these four eligible award cycles.
Current GSA Board, Awards Committee, and Awards Nominating Committee members are not eligible to be nominated for any GSA Award. Only GSA members are eligible for the GSA Mentorship Award. If a non-member is nominated, they must join GSA to be eligible to win the award.
Other GSA award winners are not eligible to be nominated for an additional award for five years following their award. For example, a 2025 awardee may be nominated again in 2029 for the 2030 awards cycle. No individual may win the same award twice.
Additional eligibility information about other GSA Awards can be found on each individual award page.
Nominators
Only GSA members may make nominations.
Members of the Awards Committee cannot nominate individuals for Society awards, but they can (and should) encourage colleagues to do so. To avoid the appearance of conflict of interest, individuals are not permitted to nominate a spouse or other close family member.
Nomination Packet
The nomination packet for a GSA Mentorship Award includes:
- Nominee name and contact information
- Nominator name and contact information (if different from the nominee)
- Cover letter introducing the nominee (250 words or fewer)
- Nominators should briefly introduce themselves and the nominee, describe their relationship and experience with the nominee, and indicate that they are nominating for the GSA Mentorship Award.
- Self-nominees should briefly introduce themselves and indicate they are nominating themselves for the GSA Mentorship Award.
- NIH-style biosketch (5 pages or fewer)
- For instructions, please see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm.
- Lived-experience statement (250 words or fewer)
- Nominees should give an overview of their career path and scientific philosophy. They are encouraged to describe their particular approaches to research, mentoring, teaching, and equity, as appropriate, and are welcome to include information about barriers they have faced and/or overcome.
- The total number of mentees the nominee has mentored at the time of nomination, and names of three who will respond to the third question in the selection questionnaire (below).
- Award-specific selection questionnaire (see below), which includes responses from the nominator and three mentees.
- Demographic survey (optional)
- Nominees will be prompted to update the demographic information in their GSA member profile. Nominees are strongly encouraged to answer demographic questions. Demographic information will be kept confidential and will not affect the committee’s decision-making process but will instead help GSA track progress on diversity and inclusion goals over time.
Selection Questionnaire
- Describe three of the nominee’s most impactful mentoring contributions (100 words or fewer).
- Describe the nominee’s contributions to academic mentoring culture as a whole. This may include efforts to amplify mentees efforts to diversify the field and make it more inclusive (100 words or fewer).
- To be filled by mentees identified. Please highlight your experience as the nominee’s mentee and describe their mentorship style and the impact they had on your career (three individual mentee experiences required).
If you have any questions about requirements or eligibility, please email society@genetics-gsa.org.