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Nominations for the 2017 PECASE Awards - Nominations Due July 31st

July 5, 2017


The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)

The Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Government to outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) invites VA to submit nominees for this award each year. Final selection is typically made in winter and announced by the White House the following summer. We did not have nominations for 2016, so we want to ensure we participate this year to acknowledge our outstanding researchers.

The VA Office of Research and Development (ORD) is beginning the internal process for selecting nominees for the 2017 award. Nominees can be funded investigators from any of the four services: Biomedical Laboratory R&D Service (BLR&D), Clinical Science R&D Service (CSR&D), Health Services R&D Service (HSR&D), or Rehabilitation R&D Service (RR&D). Candidates will be assessed by ORD professional and scientific staff on the basis and quality of their scientific work, together with the relevance of their research to VA's mission. Nominees will be approved by the Chief Research and Development Officer, and transmitted to the Under Secretary for Health and to the Secretary for final approval.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for a PECASE award, nominees must:

1. Have a VA Appointment of 5/8ths or greater,

2. Have a VA-funded award,

3. Have no more than five years of research experience, as defined in (a) below:

a. In the first five years since receiving his or her first competitively awarded investigator-initiated merit award or in the first five years of a tenure track or equivalent academic or federal research position.

b. Funds secured during graduate school or postdoctoral training and funds secured for training, fellowship, education, or career development do not count towards the five year limit. ORD Career Development Awards do not count against the 5 year limit. An investigator who has completed a CDA remains eligible for the PECASE award during his or her first VA-funded Investigator-Initiated Research Merit Award. Researchers currently completing a CDA are also eligible.

4. Be involved in innovative research and the frontiers of science and technology that is relevant to VA's mission, and

5. Show demonstrated community service through scientific leadership, education, and community outreach.

Nomination Package Requirements

Nomination packages must include the following:

1. Letter of Recommendation, not to exceed two pages. This letter may be from the ACOS for Research, the Medical Center Director, or an ORD Service Director or Portfolio Manager. This letter should describe how the nominee meets the eligibility criteria described above.

2. Nominee's current Curriculum Vitae

3. One-page Candidate Description (e.g. short bio).

4. VA Form 0235: Security Check for Candidate Requiring Approval of the Secretary
This form available on the intranet. If you have access copy and paste this link http://vaww.va.gov/vaforms/va/pdf/VA0235.pdf into your browser.

5. Memorandum of Employment Verification and Citizen Status from nominee's human resources office.

Nominations will be accepted via email until COB July 31st, 2017. Please note that the VA Form 0235 contains sensitive information and must be sent encrypted. If you cannot send encrypted email, please contact Melissa Cooper and she will provide you with a secure fax line for submitting Form 0235.

Please submit questions or nomination packages to Melissa Cooper at Melissa.Cooper@va.gov.


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