Dele Ogbodo in Abuja
The Council of the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), has approved the award of a new prize to deserving Nigerian scientists to be called the NAS gold medal award, with the first award slated for January 2017.
The award will be given to scientists that have made outstanding contribution to science that is widely accepted, ground breaking, original and leads to the promotion and improvement of human condition.
According to a statement made available to the media in Abuja, said the prize will be administered by the NAS Science Prize Committee and a jury, members of which are not eligible for the award themselves.
The statement added that the prize shall be awarded to the scientist whose work made the most impact in furthering the frontiers of knowledge and has made significant contributions to mankind.
“It is considered a high honour that the Academy (the peak independent scientific institution in Nigeria) would bestow such an award on a Nigerian Scientist in recognition of his/her scientific work.
“The prize consists of a medal, a certificate and a purse. There shall be a public presentation of the prize by the President of the Nigerian Academy of Science,”, it said.
The call for nominations, the statement added, will be between May and July of each year with an annual award each year in one of two categories of Physical Sciences Life Sciences.
The announcement of winner(s) shall be made in October and an award ceremony in January. For 2016 the call for nominations will be in the life sciences (with the award ceremony in January 2017)
On eligibility for the awards, it said: “The award is open to all scientists with Nigerian nationality. Fellows of the Academy are not eligible for nomination but can nominate scientists for consideration for the award.
“To qualify for the award, candidates must have demonstrated scientific excellence through published works, patents and innovations, intellectual property of outstanding merit and be nominated by two (2) persons, of which one must be a specialist in the candidate’s field.
“The NAS gold medal may be awarded to a single individual or as a joint prize for collaborations arising from the work of more than one person in the same or different fields of science.
The award recognises personal contributions to excellence in research in the physical sciences as well as in the life sciences, which are the results of fundamental and applied research by any Nigerian scientist(s) for work done predominantly in Nigeria but with international resonance with potential applicability to the global community.
The statement added that candidates for the award must have made an outstanding contribution to science that is widely accepted, ground breaking, original and leads to the promotion and improvement of human condition.
