Cottrell IMPACT Award
Cottrell IMPACT Award supports Cottrell Scholars and Holland Awardees by honoring academic leadership and service with national impact in science, encouraging excellence and raising honorees’ profiles.
Funder: Research Corporation for Science Advancement
Due Dates: November 18, 2026 (Nomination) | January 21, 2027 (Application) | February 4, 2027 (Support letters) — all at 11:00 p.m. MST
Funding Amounts: $5,000 cash prize
Summary: Recognizes Cottrell Scholars and Holland Awardees for national impact in science through academic leadership and service.
Key Information: Cottrell Scholars must have received their award in 2015 or earlier for the 2027 cycle; Holland Awardees qualify regardless of award year.
Description
The Cottrell IMPACT Award, administered by Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), honors a Cottrell Scholar or Holland Award recipient whose leadership and service activities have had a national impact in science. Rather than supporting a specified research project, it recognizes distinguished accomplishments that demonstrate outstanding academic leadership. The award encourages leadership excellence within the Cottrell Scholar community and beyond while raising the national profile of its honorees.
The work recognized may be a single highly impactful example or a larger body of service and leadership, including sustained national leadership that clearly distinguishes the nominee’s accomplishments. Recipients also receive recognition through an invitation to deliver a plenary talk at the summer Cottrell Scholar Conference and RCSA’s promotion of the award in professional journals.
