A. Purpose of the Honorary Award Program

• The Distinguished Research Professor (DRP) award recognizes outstanding research and/or creative activity of eligible Florida State University faculty currently at the rank of full Professor.
• Departments are encouraged to nominate only one candidate for this award. If multiple candidates are nominated, the Chair or Dean will be contacted to rank order their candidates (no ties) for reviewers. Nominations from "centers" will not be accepted; nominations must be submitted from a faculty member's home department.

B. Award Information

• Recipients receive a one-time award of $10,000, less applicable taxes, by direct deposit.
• Awardees will be recognized at the annual Faculty Awards Dinner, which is generally scheduled in the late Spring.
• Recipients of this award are entitled to use the title "Distinguished Research Professor" throughout their subsequent employment at FSU or until that title is surpassed through the receipt of the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Award.

C. Eligibility

• This award is open to well-established full professors who, as of August 2023, have completed at least five years in the rank of Professor at FSU.
• Faculty who currently hold a named professorship or endowed professorship may be nominated for this recognition.
• Faculty already holding an endowed chair, the Robert O. Lawton Award, the Daisy Parker Flory Award, or the Distinguished Research Professor Award are not eligible.

D. Important Dates for the 2024 - 2025 Round

• Nomination Deadline: Thursday, December 19, 2024 @ 4:59 pm
• Award Notification: Mid-April 2025
• Award Period: Lifetime

E. Selection Criteria

• It is preferred that Departments nominate at most one candidate for this award. Nominations will not be accepted from "centers"; nominations must be submitted from a faculty member's home Department. If a Department does choose to nominate multiple candidates, then they must be rank-ordered by the nominating Department, with no ties (so that such candidates are ranked by those who have the best knowledge of their work).
• There should be evidence of the following in the letters from a nominator, the Department Chair, and the Dean:
  • Candidate's outstanding scholarly productivity and/or creative activity
  • Recognition and honors related to research and/or creative activity
  • National and international visibility in endeavors that emphasize research and/or creative activities.
• Not to be included among the selection criteria are such factors as sex, race, field of specialization, Department, School, or College, outside activities, previous accomplishments in other fields or positions, whether or not the candidate is applying for other campus awards (i.e. Seed grants, sabbatical), and whether other members from the same Department or School have been selected for awards during the year or in the past.

F. Nomination Preparation Instructions

IMPORTANT: Nominators must initiate the electronic nomination binders on behalf of the nominee. The only exceptions are for self-nominations. Once the nomination has been created, additional editors (including the nominee) can be added to assist with uploading the necessary information.

• Only a PDF version of each document will be accepted.
• Go to Section G. Nomination Submission Process for instructions on how to apply.
• Below are the required sub-sections for each candidate:

Letter of Nomination

• A letter of nomination, addressed to the DRP Review Committee, from an FSU faculty member (who may be the nominee — self-nominations are acceptable) or an FSU administrator, addressing the selection criteria (Section E).
• Departments are encouraged to nominate only one candidate for this award. If multiple candidates are nominated, the Chair or Dean will be contacted to rank order their candidates (no ties) for reviewers.
• If someone other than the nominee is the nomination letter author, the author must include their CV (2 page maximum).

Internal Letter of Endorsement

• Internal letters of endorsement, addressed to the DRP Review Committee, are required from the Department Chair or Director (if applicable) and Dean.
• Submissions will not be accepted without both letters, where applicable.

External Letters of Endorsement

• No more than three external letters of recommendation from established scholars with a direct relationship or knowledge to the nominee are allowed. The external letters of recommendation must have been written no earlier than 24 months prior to the application deadline, as verified by the dates that appear on them (which are required).
• These letters must include a separate one-paragraph statement on the qualifications of the letter authors, as well as a brief 2 page CV from the letter authors.

Curriculum Vitae

• The nominee's vitae should be current, concise, and complete.
• If extensive lists or photos of projects are vital, the nominee should set up a web link to this data and reference it at the end of the vitae.

A list of FSU graduate student advisees (present and former)

A list of external contract and grant awards (with dates and amounts)

A list of invited talks

G. Nomination Submission Process

• Go to the InfoReady Submission Portal.
• The nominator will need to log in using his or her FSU username and password.

H. Nomination Review Process

• The DRP Review Committee consists of selected CRC members and previous DRP awardees.  
• Reviewers will use the Distinguished Research Professor (DRP) Reviewer Guidelines for scoring the nomination.
• The Review Committee will recommend the finalists to the Vice President for Research and the University President based on the funding allocated to the program and merit scores of each nomination.
• The Vice President for Research and the University President will make the final decisions regarding the award recipients.