What we honor
The award recognizes initiatives that strengthen the conditions, methods, and structures through which research is conducted — enabling knowledge production to be more transparent, collaborative, and capable of addressing complex societal and intellectual challenges. It does not honor traditional research projects focused on answering specific disciplinary questions or developing particular applications, without broader relevance for research quality.
Such contributions should align with the following objectives:
Advancing Research Integrity and Transparency
Promoting responsible and ethical research practices through enhanced transparency, traceable workflows, and open access to data and results (‘Open Science’). This includes innovative strategies to improve reproducibility and support replication efforts, enable critical reassessment of findings, and prevent misconduct.
Comprehensive Knowledge Production for Sustainable Solutions
Fostering research models that intentionally combine different modes of inquiry, disciplines, epistemologies, geographic perspectives, and stakeholder groups to enhance the rigor, reliability, and robustness of research. This includes building research capacity in communities historically underrepresented or structurally excluded from knowledge production, and fostering participatory approaches that involve relevant actors and audiences throughout the research process to ensure more inclusive and contextually relevant outcomes.
Transforming Research Systems and Incentives
Driving systemic reforms, policies, governance models, and incentive frameworks that contribute demonstrably to advancing research quality, integrity, and transparency, with sustained influence across institutions and fields. Supporting cultures and assessment practices that enable innovative and reliable knowledge to address today’s complex challenges.
Cultivating Integrity Culture and Leadership
Leading transformative initiatives that embed responsible, ethical, and transparent research principles into education and institutional culture. Demonstrating exceptional integrity in challenging situations and serving as a model for ethical research conduct.
Preserving and Enhancing Scholarly Resources
Contributing substantially to the long-term archiving, digital curation, and accessibility of research data and publications. Implementing impactful solutions that remove structural barriers, ensuring long-term preservation, accessibility, and enhanced reuse of scholarly data and publications beyond standard institutional practices.