December 15, 2025
Call for Nominations for the Inaugural SMIF Outstanding Paper Awards
The Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility (SMIF) at Duke University is pleased to announce the Inaugural SMIF Outstanding Paper Awards, recognizing outstanding, high-impact research enabled through the use of SMIF’s advanced instrumentation, facilities, and technical expertise. These awards celebrate the innovative work of researchers who have leveraged SMIF resources to push the boundaries of their fields.
Eligibility:
- Open to students and postdoctoral researchers as first author (or co-first author) on papers that report original, peer-reviewed research (does not have to be from Duke, open to all SMIF users).
- Eligible papers must list SMIF in methods or acknowledge use of SMIF facilities/staff and have a publication date within 2025.
Nomination procedure:
Please nominate outstanding papers (self-nomination is encouraged) by Jan. 31, 2026 by emailing: smif@duke.edu with the following:
- A PDF copy of the published paper.
- A stable link to the published article (journal DOI or publisher URL).
- A short (200 word max) statement of how your paper made use of SMIF resources.
Award purpose and recognition:
The SMIF Outstanding Paper Award is intended to encourage and reward transformative research that leverages the state-of-the-art instruments and expert support available at SMIF. The selected paper will be prominently displayed within SMIF and featured on the SMIF website. The recipient will also receive a $200 cash prize and formal recognition from the facility.
Selection:
SMIF staff will evaluate nominations based on degree of SMIF involvement, scientific impact, novelty, and clarity of presentation.
We look forward to celebrating the exceptional work being carried out by the SMIF user community and encourage you to submit your nominations.