The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science invites nominations for the 2025 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, one of the longest running and most prestigious science and technology awards given by the U.S. government. The Lawrence Award is presented by the Secretary of Energy to honor mid-career U.S. scientists and engineers for exceptional technical contributions and achievements in research and development supporting DOE’s mission and its programs to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States.

Awards will be considered in each of the following nine categories: Atomic, Molecular, and Chemical Sciences; Biological and Environmental Sciences; Computer, Information, and Knowledge Sciences; Condensed Matter and Materials Sciences; Energy Science and Innovation; Fusion and Plasma Sciences; High Energy Physics; National Security and Nonproliferation; and Nuclear Physics.

The deadline to submit a nomination is Thursday, May 9, 2024, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Nominations must include statements summarizing the candidate’s achievements and connection to DOE support, three to six letters of support, a curriculum vitae, and a short bibliography. An independent panel of eminent experts will be convened by DOE to review nominations in each award category and inform award recommendation(s) submitted to the Secretary of Energy. Final award selections are made by the Secretary of Energy. Each Lawrence Award category award winner receives a citation signed by the Secretary, a gold-plated medal bearing the likeness of Ernest O. Lawrence, and a $20,000 honorarium. In the event the award is given to more than one individual within an award category, the recipients share the honorarium equally. To read nomination guidelines and submit a nomination visit Lawrence Award Nomination & Selection Guidelines.

The Lawrence Award was established in 1959 to honor the memory of the late E.O. Lawrence, who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the cyclotron (a particle accelerator) and after whom two DOE national laboratories, one in Berkeley and the other in Livermore, California, are named. Office of Science Administers the Lawrence Award on behalf of the Department of Energy. DOE encourages nominations of individuals from underrepresented groups and is committed to fostering safe, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible work, research, and funding environments. Read the Office of Science’s Statement of Commitment for more information.

Questions may be addressed to Kaitlyn (Katie) Schroeder-Spain, Ph.D., Lawrence Award Program Manager, at SCLawrence.Award@science.doe.gov.

Nomination guidelines

To be eligible, nominees must:

• Be in the middle of their careers, defined as within 20 years of earning their highest degree. For the present competition, nominees must have had their highest earned degree conferred in calendar year 2004 or later to be eligible.
• Be citizens of the United States;
• Be recognized for achievement(s) in research principally funded by the DOE; and
• Be recognized primarily on the scientific impact and technical significance of their work relative to its discipline and/or related mission. (Business management and acumen, while valued, is not a significant factor used when evaluating a nominee’s worthiness.)