Nan-Yao Su Award for Innovation and Creativity in Entomology

This award was created from a $250,000 endowment from Dr. Nan-Yao Su. The annual amount of this award will be based on interest from the endowment and may vary from year to year, and the award will be presented at the ESA Annual Meeting.

Eligibility

The nominee must be a current ESA member, and must be able to demonstrate through his/her projects or accomplishments an ability to identify problems and develop creative, alternative solutions that significantly impact entomology.

The nominee may belong to any area of entomology, but must be a practicing entomologist. Professionals working within public- or private-sector organizations are eligible.

For more information, read this article about the award from the January 2009 ESA Newsletter.

If there is no suitable candidate in any given year, then the award will not be given.

Electronic Submission Requirements

All nomination packages must be submitted electronically according to the following specifications (paper nominations will not be accepted):

Page Limits

• The entire nomination package must not exceed 20 pages total. This includes letters of nomination or recommendation and publication lists.

• Letters of nomination and recommendation must be included in the electronic package. Printed letters sent in lieu of electronic versions will not be accepted.

File Specifications

• Only the following file formats will be accepted: PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format), RTF (Rich Text Format), TIF graphic files, or JPG graphic files. Files created on either PC or MAC platforms will be accepted. Please make sure scanned images can be clearly read on a computer screen.

• Font size for text may not be smaller than 10 point.

• A nomination package may contain no more than 6 separate files, and the size of each file must not exceed 3 MB.

Submission Methods

Nomination packages may be submitted by either of two methods:

• PREFERRED METHOD: Submit online via the Nomination Submission Website. This method eliminates problems associated with e-mailing large files. Nominators are strongly encouraged to use this method.
  OR

• E-mail the nomination package as attached files to the awards administrator. In the submission e-mail, please include the title of the award in the subject of the e-mail. In the body of the e-mail, provide the name of the nominee, the nominator's contact information, and a list of the attached files.

Nomination Requirements

Nomination packages for this award must include:

CV-Related Items

Nominators must provide the information called for in the CV template, either in the template's format or in their own format. To view the CV-related nomination requirements for this award, as well as the CV template, please click here.

Other Items

1. A nomination letter describing the work on which the nomination is based.

2. Up to three letters of recommendation that evaluate and appraise the nominee's accomplishments and which describe the nature of the innovation and its relevance.

3. A brief summary, no longer than four pages double spaced, of the professional’s work to include the area of focus, the innovative approach, the results or outcome, and the significance.

Evaluation Criteria

Nominees/candidates will be judged using the following criteria for a total of 100 points:

1. Nominees must demonstrate the following (80 points total)
   1. In-depth knowledge of their fields of study (16)
   2. Ability to identify a problem of significant importance (especially if that particular problem has been overlooked by many)  (16)
   3. Ability to recognize a novel pattern from existing information (transformation)  (16)
   4. Ability to develop alternative solutions or divergent thinking for a problem -- in other words, to "think outside the box” (16)
   5. Ability to connect thoughts that previously have been isolated (synthesis)  (16)

2. Candidates should have the following desirable personality traits (20 points total)
   1. Intellectual curiosity, openness to new information and experiences (4)
   2. Tolerance of ambiguity  (4)
   3. Love of problem solving  (4)
   4. Passionate, yet still objective and honest in the judging of their own work  (4)
   5. Willingness to take risks  (4)

Deadline

Nomination packages must be received by ESA headquarters by July 1. This deadline refers to receipt by the awards administrator of a complete package in a readable format. Therefore, early submission is highly recommended. The awards administrator will confirm receipt of nomination packages within two business days, and also notify nominators of any problems with nomination package files within that time.

Renomination

Any candidate nominated, but not selected, may be renominated no more than two times within the two-year period after his/her initial submission. Nomination packages will be retained for two years by the awards administrator. Nominators must send a letter of renomination to the awards administrator by the nomination deadline above. Previously submitted documentation will be used for the evaluation process unless the nominator submits new or updated documents. The renomination e-mail must contain this additional documentation. New or updated documents must follow the electronic submission requirements noted above.

Notification

The awards administrator will notify all candidates and their nominators with the results of their nomination approximately two months after the nomination submission deadline. 

For questions about this award, please click here.