Research Honors and Awards

Columbia University in the City of New York is proud of the external honors and awards recognizing the pioneering research conducted by our distinguished faculty members. The information provided on this page is an abbreviated snapshot of Columbia's current research community, and cannot purport to be comprehensive. If you have research awards information to add to this current listing, please contact the Office of Research Initiatives and Development at [email protected] with your name, title, school, department, and a link to the relevant award or milestone.

 

The Albert Lasker Awards Program recognizes the contributions of scientists, physicians, and public servants who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of human disease.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an honorary society composed of many of the most accomplished scholars and practitioners worldwide, and that recognizes achievement in the natural sciences, sciences, arts, and humanities.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing engineering and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people.

The American Philosophical Society promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, support of young scholars, publications, library resources, a museum and community outreach.

The A.M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) to an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The Turing Award is recognized as the highest distinction in Computer Science and the Nobel Prize for computing.

The Beckman Young Investigator Program provides research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers in the chemical and life sciences.

The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics recognizes physicists - theoretical, mathematical, experimental -  who have made profound contributions to human knowledge. In exceptional cases, a Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics can be awarded at any time, forgoing the nomination process.

The New Horizons in Physics Prize is awarded to promising junior researchers who have already produced important work. Each year, up to three New Horizons in Physics Prizes are awarded.

The Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics rewards significant discoveries across the many branches of mathematics.

The New Horizons in Mathematics Prize of $100,000 is awarded to promising early-career researchers who have already produced important work. Each year, up to three New Horizons in Mathematics Prizes are awarded.

The Fields Medal is awarded every four years by the International Congress of Mathematicians to recognize outstanding mathematical achievement.

The Canada Gairdner Awards celebrate the world’s best biomedical and global health researchers through annual prestigious awards.

Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for individuals who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.

Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Program provides biomedical researchers with long-term, flexible funding to employ scientists as investigators, rather than awarding them grants for specific research projects.

The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded annually by the American Economics Association to that American economist under the age of forty who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge.

The Kavli Prize recognizes scientists for their seminal advances in three research areas: astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience.

The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.

The National Academy of Engineering grants membership to engineers who have distinguished themselves in business and academic management, in technical positions, as university faculty, and as leaders in government and private engineering organizations.

The National Academy of Inventors awards the highest professional distinction to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation.

The National Academy of Medicine elects members in recognition of distinguished professional achievement in a field related to medicine and health.

The National Academy of Sciences recognizes members for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original scientific research.

The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of and broadened our citizens' engagement with the humanities.

The National Medal of Science is a Presidential Award awarded to individuals for outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, or engineering sciences.

The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate, serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry.

The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in recognition of outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and for work in peace.

For a full list of all 87 of Columbia's faculty, alumni, and administrators who have been awarded Nobel Prizes, please visit here.

The NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is awarded in support of the early career-development activities of teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education.

The Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering recognize and allow the nation’s most promising professors to pursue science and engineering research early in their careers with few funding restrictions and limited reporting requirements.

The Presidential Early Career (PECASE) Award recognizes the finest scientists and engineers who show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge in the 21st century.

The Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences provides funding to young investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health.

The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.

The Searle Scholars Program supports research of outstanding individuals who have recently begun their appointment at the assistant professor level, and whose appointment is their first tenure-track position at a participating academic or research institution.

The Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise.

Since 1985, the Whiting Foundation has supported creative writing through the Whiting Awards, which are given annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation offers an array of programs to support the development of more than 22,000 leaders—teachers and scholars, leaders and business people, artists and innovators.

For more detailed listings of research and other kinds of honors and mentions for the university and specific schools, please see: 

https://news.columbia.edu/content/awards-milestones

https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/2022-state-school/honors-recognition