68th Annual Drosophila Research Conference
A variety of awards and grants from GSA and partner organizations help recognize the outstanding achievements of community members and offset conference travel and attendance costs.
You must be a GSA member to apply for these awards. If you are not yet a member, you may join here. Refresh the page after you’re done and you’ll be able to apply for the awards within 20 minutes of processing your membership.
The Hugo Bellen and Catherine Tasnier Drosophila Neurogenetics Lecture recognizes a postdoctoral fellow or assistant professor for their outstanding achievements in the field of genetics as applied to neuroscience in Drosophila, to improve our understanding of how neurons develop, function, connect, and respond to stimuli to control behavior.
Designed to recognize and support early career scientists and early career faculty members of the Drosophila community, the award covers registration and travel costs for the Annual Drosophila Research Conference where the recipient will present and includes a cash prize.
Nominations will be open August 3 through October 22, 2026.
This award is presented each year to outstanding recent graduates who have completed a PhD in an area of Drosophila research. The recipient presents the Larry Sandler Memorial Lecture at the opening session of the Annual Drosophila Research Conference.
Nominations will open August 3 through November 17, 2026.
The Drosophila Image Award recognizes compelling images that communicate important findings in Drosophila research. Any image from a paper that has been accepted for publication in the calendar year preceding the Annual Drosophila Research Conference is eligible and can be submitted by the researcher who generated it.
The award is given to the most striking image and video that clearly conveys an important biological result.
The Fly Board Drosophila Community Service Award is now open. Nominations are due by December 15, 2026.
The award is given once a year to acknowledge outstanding contributions to the Drosophila community. The awardee(s) are announced at the Annual Drosophila Research Conference each year.
The award was initiated in 2021 in gratitude for the service of colleagues like Dan Lindsley, Kathy Matthews, and Bill Gelbart, with the first award announced in 2023. A major goal of this award is to raise awareness within the Drosophila community about the depth and diversity of efforts supporting its success. The selection committee is encouraged to recognize colleagues who might not have been selected for the GSA Awards. Any member of the Drosophila research community is eligible, including professionals not holding traditional tenure-track positions. A team or small group may be recognized
Anyone may make a nomination by submitting a letter describing the contributions of the nominee(s), including the significance and impact of the work on the community. Please submit your nomination by December 15, 2026, by emailing drosophilaserviceaward@gmail.com.
Past Awardees
2026: Development of online repositories and resources for dissemination and analysis of Drosophila data
REDfly – Marc Halfon, University of Buffalo
FlyBase consortium members located at Harvard University and Indiana University
FlyBase Database Developers (Harvard)– Gil dos Santos, Ian Longden, Christopher J. Tabone, and Pinglei Zhou
FlyBase Web Developers (Indiana University) – Victor Strelets, Jim Thurmond, and Seth Campbell
FlyBase System Administrators (Harvard) – Kris Broll and Mark Zytkovicz
FlyBase Administrative Staff (Harvard) – Carol Sutherland
FlyBase Program Director (Harvard) – Susan Russo Gelbart
2025: Development of technology and resources that enable a broad range of studies within the Drosophila research community
Gene Disruption Project:
Baylor College of Medicine: Koen Venken, Oguz Kanca, Pei-Tseng Lee, Sonal Nagarkar Jaiswall, Wen-Wen Lin
Carnegie: Bob Levis
Harvard Medical School: Jonathan Zirin, Yanhui Claire Hu
LBNL: Roger Hoskins
DRSC/TRiP-Functional Genomics Resources at Harvard Medical School
Stephanie Mohr for the Drosophila RNAi Screening Center (DRSC)
Liz Perkins, Jonathan Zirin, Jianguan Ni for the Transgenic RNAi Project
Yanhui Claire Hu for online tools
2024: For cataloging, maintaining, and distributing Drosophila stocks for the worldwide research community
Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center at Indiana University
Senior Staff Members: Kevin Cook, Annette Parks, Cale Whitworth, and Sam Zheng; all staff members and stockkeepers past and present for their contributions and substantial efforts.
2023: For gathering and organizing the information that drives Drosophila research
James Thompson for Drosophila Information Services
Thomas Brody for Interactive Fly
FlyBase Curatorial Team: Giulia Antonazzo, Helen Attrill, Lynn Crosby, Damien Goutte-Gattat, L. Sian Gramates, Victoria Jenkins, Aoife Larkin, TyAnna Lovato, Steven Marygold, Beverley Matthews, Alex McLachlan, Gillian Millburn, Arzu Öztürk-Çolak, Clare Pilgrim; all past and present curators for their contributions and substantial efforts.
Awards will be given to the best visual poster presentations at the Annual Drosophila Research Conference by GSA undergraduate and graduate student members. Judges take both scientific merit and visual clarity of presentation into account. You must be the first and presenting author on the abstract to be eligible for an award. You must also be a GSA student member at the time you submit your abstract and must check the Poster Awards option during abstract submission to enter the competition.
The following prizes will be awarded:
Award recipients will be announced during the conference. Postdocs who are GSA members can indicate if they would like to help with judging during registration.
The GSA Undergraduate Travel Award was established to promote excellence in undergraduate research and education. It supports travel costs for undergraduate GSA members who are presenting at and attending a GSA Conference.
The GSA Undergraduate Travel Award has two rounds of applications per year; one for GSA Conferences occurring between January 1 and June 30, and another for GSA Conferences held between July 1 and December 31. Application dates for the upcoming cycle will be available soon.
Applications will open August 3.
The DeLill Nasser Award supports scientists studying genetics who are GSA members in their graduate or postdoctoral career stages by providing $1,000 to fund participation in conferences and laboratory courses.
Applications will open August 3.
The Victoria Finnerty Undergraduate Travel Award supports registration costs for undergraduate GSA members who will present research at the Annual Drosophila Research Conference.
