Overview

The URA Tollestrup Award for Postdoctoral Research, named after celebrated Fermilab scientist Alvin Tollestrup, is one of the honorary awards conferred annually by the Universities Research Association (URA) for outstanding work conducted by young scientists during their postdoctoral years at Fermilab or in collaboration with Fermilab scientists.

The URA Tollestrup Award for Postdoctoral Research is presented at the June Fermilab Users Meeting.

The awardee will receive $10,000 from URA and present their work at the Users Meeting.

Eligibility

All Ph.D. researchers who are within six years of the receipt of their Ph.D., as of the nomination deadline, in non-tenure track positions (or non-tenure track equivalent positions at Fermilab). The work for which the award is made must be performed in conjunction with a Fermilab experiment or accelerator project, or under the auspices of the Fermilab Theory or Astrophysics Groups.

Nomination

1) Self-nominations are welcome

2) Candidate’s CV, including the list of publications and invited talks

3) Statement, by the nominator, up to five pages, describing the postdoctoral research work and demonstrating scientific insight and creativity

4) Two letters of support from scientists familiar with the work and focus on the nominee’s contribution to it. These letters must not come from the nominee under any circumstances, including a self-nomination.

Nominations must be submitted to the chair of the Award Committee, Michael Mulhearn (ura-tollestrup@fnal.gov) by Friday, April 5, 2024. All nomination material should be sent in electronic form, .pdf preferably.

Call for Nominations

The call for nominations will be issued on January 22 by the Award Committee Chair, FNAL Chief Research Officer (CRO), and URA.

Notification Process for Selection

By May 6th, the committee chair will inform URA and the CRO of the selected awardee and will subsequently inform the award recipient.

Award for Postdoctoral Research Committee

The URA Tollestrup Award for Postdoctoral Research Award Committee members reflects a sufficiently diverse representation of disciplines and expertise to ensure eligible nominees’ appropriate and fair consideration.  The members and chair of the award committee are appointed by the Fermilab Director/CRO.

Tollestrup Award Committee