Merton Bernfield Memorial Award

About the Award

This award for postdocs and graduate students was established with member donations in memory of Merton Bernfield.

Award Details

The winner will receive a $1,000 stipend, complimentary registration for the Cell Bio 2024 ASCB|EMBO Meeting, and an invitation to speak at the meeting.

Who is Eligible

An outstanding graduate student or postdoctoral fellow (at the time of nomination) who has excelled in research. Nominators and nominees must be ASCB members.

Selection Criteria

  • Candidate’s contributions to research in the field of cell biology.
  • Candidate’s contributions to achieving additional areas of the ASCB mission
  • Candidate’s demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

How to Apply

Application Deadline is June 30

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Candidates may either self-apply or be nominated. If you are nominating another person please obtain all required documentation from the candidate prior to proceeding.

  1. A biosketch that follows the NIH (or similar format), no longer than 5 pages.
  2. A narrative statement of no more than 2 pages that describes the candidate’s qualifications for this award and addresses how the candidate’s achievements have contributed to the advancement of the ASCB mission statement. The statement should be written by the candidate.
  3. Two letters of support, neither longer than 2 pages. At least one of the supporting letters must be from someone who is neither a collaborator, former trainee, nor mentor of the candidate.  The letters of support should explicitly address whether a nominee’s professional conduct over their career embodies the principles and expectations noted in ASCB’s Mission Statement, the Community Code of Conduct, and Honorific Code of Conduct.
  4. Abstract submission for the 2024 ASCB|EMBO Cell Bio Meeting.

Upload .pdf files, 1MB size limit per file.

Please Note

  1. ASCB wants to ensure that the pool of award candidates is as diverse and inclusive as possible. The demographic questions are for internal reporting only and are not viewable by award reviewers. The questions are not mandatory, however we would appreciate your responses so that we can assess our level of inclusivity.
  2. As a founder of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) ASCB does not use journal impact factors or other journal-based metrics in the evaluation process for its awards. ASCB looks at an individual’s research contributions and impact on the field, rather than the prestige of the journals where work is published.

Deadline: June 30, 2024

Apply or Nominate

All Recent Awardee Photos

Award Winners

  • 2023—Coral Zhou
  • 2022—Jaye C. Gardiner
  • 2021—Blair Benham-Pyle
  • 2020—Michael Trinh
  • 2019—Veena Padmanaban
  • 2018—Kelsie Eichel
  • 2017—Lawrence Kazak
  • 2016—Kara McKinley
  • 2015—Shigeki Watanabe
  • 2014—Prasanna Satpute
  • 2013—Panteleimon Rompolas
  • 2012—Ting Chen and Gabriel Lander
  • 2011—Dylan Tyler Burnette
  • 2010—Hua Jin
  • 2009—Chad G. Pearson
  • 2008—Kenneth Campellone
  • 2007—Ethan Garner
  • 2006—Lloyd Trotman
  • 2005—Stephanie Gupton
  • 2004—Chun Han
  • 2003—Erik Dent
  • 2002—Christina Hull
  • 2001—Sarah South and James Wohlschlegel