Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research
Thank you for your interest in the 2025 Szent-Györgyi Prize! Nominations are now closed.
Please stay tuned for a Summer 2025 Announcement on our winner. Visit our NFCR Global Summit Page to learn more about attending the ceremony.
Nominations are reviewed and evaluated based on the following criteria:
1. The candidate is nominated for a seminal discovery or a pioneering body of work that has contributed to cancer prevention, diagnosis, or treatment.
and
2. The candidate’s work has had a lasting impact on understanding cancer, holding the promise of improving or saving the lives of cancer patients.
Selection Criteria
- Nominations for the Prize may be made by nominators from the research community, industry, government, or other organizations who are sufficiently familiar with the research accomplishments and contributions of the nominee.
- The Selection Committee welcomes co-nominations of two individuals of a similar field.
- Self-nominations are not accepted.
The Szent-Györgyi Prize Selection Committee
The Szent-Györgyi Prize Selection Committee advises and consults with the National Foundation for Cancer Research on each year’s pool of Prize nominees. The Committee considers the research history and contributions of each nominee, with special emphasis on the importance of the research and publications featured in the nomination materials; the significance, originality, and impact of that research as well as the nominee’s entire body of scientific contributions; each nominee’s professional activities; and other relevant aspects of each nominee’s career in research.
It will be the charge of the selection committee members to evaluate each candidate’s accomplishments and provide a dispassionate narrative, not to serve as champions of the candidates.
The Prize Winner each year will serve as the selection chair of the Szent-Györgyi Prize Selection Committee for the following year. In case the Prize Winner is unable to serve as the incoming chair, the previous chair will serve as de facto chair of the new Committee.
The Prize Selection Committee reviews all submissions. If you have questions or need more information, please email ASGPrize@NFCR.org.
You can download all nomination information here: 2025 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS.
Please submit the following REQUIRED DOCUMENTS through the Nomination Portal:
>> A letter of recommendation (800 words or less), including a 50-word nomination sentence, followed by a 750-word explanation, outlining the nominee’s significant contributions to cancer research. The letter should address the following criteria for the Szent-Györgyi Prize:
- The nominee’s seminal discovery or a pioneering body of work that has contributed to cancer prevention, diagnosis, or treatment.
and - The lasting impact of the discovery or body of work on understanding cancer, holding the promise of improving or saving the lives of cancer patients.
>> A simplified current curriculum vitae of the nominee; three (3) pages maximum. Nominations with CV documents larger than 3 pages will not be considered.
>> A listing of ten (10) of the nominee’s most important published papers, in the view of the nominator. Nominations with lists of more than 10 papers will not be considered. No PDFs of the publications or press clippings, please.
>> Complete contact information of nominee including cell phone.
