Award Descriptions
The Robert F. Furchgott Youth Scholar Award
The Robert F. Furchgott Youth Scholar Award in conjunction with the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, identifies a young person who embodies the academic passion that defined Dr. Furchgott. The recipients also exhibit unassuming kindness toward others that is also very much a part of Dr. Furchgott's legacy. The youth is selected from students in the Health Science Academy and receives a cash award of $1,000.
Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research
The Society honors the graduate student whose research, as represented by the thesis document, is considered most outstanding among the cohort of graduate students who defended (or will soon defend) their thesis in the 12 month interval since the previous year's commencement. The student must be nominated by their thesis sponsor. The nomination must also be accompanied by a letter from the thesis sponsor that includes a statement of the student's role in designing, executing and interpreting the results of the thesis, as well as a statement about the importance of the work described in the thesis. Based on those nominating documents and the thesis itself, a faculty committee, together with the Dean of SGS, will select the student whose thesis is deemed most deserving of the $2,500 cash award.
The School of Graduate Studies will contact faculty whose students are eligible for the award. Applications are due no later than Friday, March 15, 2024.
The Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Research Award
To qualify for this award, applicants must be a current third- or fourth-year medical student who has conducted basic or clinical research while enrolled as a medical student at Downstate. MD/PhD students are eligible to apply but may only submit applications reflecting the research performed while a medical student and not as part of their thesis project.
The award recipient will be selected on the basis of the scientific merit of their research, the student's contribution to and understanding of the project, and the quality of the presentation as determined by the reviewing members of the Award Committee. Abstracts, presentations, grant applications and publications by the student will strengthen their application, however, publications by Downstate medical students that fail to acknowledge their Downstate affiliation will not be considered.
Finalists for the award will give a 10 to 15-minute oral presentation to members of the Award Committee. The winner will receive a cash award of $2,500. Medical students may apply during their third and/or fourth year of training; however, students are only eligible to receive this award once during their medical school career. Previous winners of the Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Research Award are not eligible to apply.
Nominations require:
- A completed application form
- A letter from the research advisor describing the applicant's role in designing, executing, and interpreting the results of the project
- An abstract describing the research project (no more than 250 words)
- A curriculum vitae
The application package must be submitted as a single PDF file to RFFS@downstate.edu by Friday, March 8, 2024 at 5 PM.
Incomplete submissions, application packages not submitted as a single PDF, or packages submitted after the deadline will not be considered for the award.
The Robert F. Furchgott Seed Grant
“The Robert F. Furchgott Society will supplement one seed grant each year through the DHSU Office of the Senior Vice President Seed Grant Program. Application and decision for the award will happen through the same process as for all grants awarded through the program. The program’s review committee will identify one funded application to be named “The Robert F. Furchgott Seed Grant”
More details on the program can be found at the Office of Senior Vice President for Research.