DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHER AWARD

Introduction

The Research and Creative Productions Committee has been charged with the task of recommending to the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs the recipient of the University’s Distinguished Researcher Award. The award is intended to recognize outstanding achievement in research and will not necessarily be made every academic year.

Description of the Award

The award is intended to recognize excellence in research while providing a financial award to assist with continued research. The Distinguished Researcher receives a $2,500 (gross amount) award plus a Distinguished Researcher medallion. The researcher's name is engraved on the Distinguished Researcher plaque on the first floor of the Camden Carroll Library, and a plaque with picture honoring the recipient is mounted in Howell-McDowell for a period of one year.

General Eligibility

Any tenured faculty member or professional librarian who has established a record of basic and/or applied research in his/her academic specialty at MSU, and has completed at least five years of service as a full-time faculty member or professional librarian with MSU may be nominated for this award. Eligibility is outlined in Academic Classification as listed in PG-2 No member of the Research and Creative Productions Committee is eligible for the award. Nominations will be accepted from faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Faculty may also self-nominate.

Previous recipients of the Distinguished Researcher Award are not eligible for a period of five years after the previous award. The current nomination must be based solely on research completed after the previous award.

How and When to Apply

Nominations in the form of a brief letter addressed to the Director of Research and Sponsored Programs will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. of the second Monday in December.

Nominees will be notified prior to the end of the Fall semester. To be further considered, each nominee must prepare and submit a brief portfolio submitted electronically the first Monday in March. The research portfolio should be arranged in the following individual sections as described below:

1. Cover Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Current Vita This should include a list of papers presented, research manuscripts published (complete citation including author(s), title, journal, year, volume, and pages), research grants and other means of support such as research fellowships, summer research associate positions, etc. Works in preparation, and/or submitted but not yet accepted for publication should not be included in the vita. Works written in a foreign language must also contain an English translation of their titles immediately after the foreign language titles.
4. Research Summary This summary should contain a brief description(s) (understandable to a lay reader) of the completed research project(s) highlighting the significance of the research. The format for this section is flexible with the main limitation being length NOT MORE THAN TEN (10) PAGES. The author should include the development of his/her research programs over the course of his/her career. Also, the prestige (e.g., rejection rate, impact factor) of journals in which the author has published may be noted or the amount of effort or time devoted to certain projects may be indicated. Similarly, information related to the impact of the research (e.g., citations, applications, reprint requests, etc.) is very important and should be presented in this section. For publications featuring multiple authors, applicants should describe the role(s) that they played in the production of the research in question. It is expected that recipients of this award would have made significant contribution(s) to their field of specialization. Follow the guidelines and arrange the portfolio with sections as described below.
   1. Prior Work
   2. Current Work
   3. Prestige of Work
   4. Number of Citation of the Publication. Including h-index and i-index
5. Sample Reprints Include only reprints or copies of published materials (articles, books, maps, etc). DO NOT submit manuscripts that have not been published. It is not necessary to submit copies of all publications, but rather preferable to submit a sample of one’s best work. For works written in a foreign language, include an English abstract.

Application Procedure

The application/administration procedure is as follows:

1. Nominee's portfolio must be presented to the Director of Research and Sponsored Programs no later than the first Monday in March by the individual nominee or the person (who may be the nominee) making the nomination.

2. The Research and Creative Productions Committee members will review and discuss the research accomplishment of each nominee between March and April.

3. Not later than the last Friday in April, the Research and Creative Productions Committee will complete its review and by vote recommend the recipient of the Distinguished Researcher award. A simple majority of those present constitutes selection with at least three fourths of membership present. By the same procedure, the committee may determine not to recommend a recipient of the award for the current year.

4. Nominees will be notified of the committee’s recommendation by the end of the Spring semester.

5. The recipient will be announced and honored at the opening Faculty/Staff convocation of the Fall semester.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation of the research record will emphasize the publication record, peer review, and the selectivity or standing of publication venues. Applications will be evaluated by the Research and Creative Productions Committee on the following basis:

1. Significance of the research to the researcher's academic specialty, university and/or on a regional, national, or international level while at Morehead State University.
2. Relative level of research productivity maintained by the researcher.
3. Utilization/impact of the findings, including but not limited to external grants, publications, presentations, and/or benefits derived by region, community, and/or university.