2020 Medals and Awards

Royal Society Te Apārangi is offering the following medals and awards in 2020.

Please note that the Academy Executive Committee is focused on increasing the diversity of nominations from under-represented groups. This is in respect to gender, ethnicity, and employment context, with the latter referring to Crown Research Institutes or Independent Research Organisations, for example.

Early Career Research

• Cooper Award – for technology, applied sciences, and engineering research in New Zealand
• Early Career Research Excellence Award for Humanities – for humanities research in New Zealand
• Early Career Research Excellence Award for Social Sciences – for social sciences research in New Zealand
• Hamilton Award – for encouragement of early-career researchers doing scientific research in New Zealand
• Hatherton Award – for the best scientific paper by a PhD student at any university in New Zealand in chemical sciences, physical sciences, or mathematical and information sciences
• Te Kōpūnui Māori Research Award – to recognise innovative Māori research with a promising trajectory 

Communications and Leadership

• Callaghan Medal – for outstanding contribution to science communication, in particular, raising public awareness of the value of science to human progress
• Thomson Medal – for outstanding contributions to the organisation, support and application of science and/or technology in New Zealand

Physical and Biological Sciences

• Hector Medal – for outstanding work in chemical, mathematical, or physical sciences
• Hercus Medal – for excellence in molecular and cellular sciences, biomedical science or clinical science and public health
• Hutton Medal – for significantly advancing understanding in animal sciences, earth sciences or plant sciences
• Jones Medal – for a lifetime achievement in pure or applied mathematics or statistics by a person with substantial connections to New Zealand

Humanities and Social Sciences

• Humanities Aronui Medal – for research or innovative work of outstanding merit in the humanities
• Mason Durie Medal – for advances in the frontiers of social science
• Metge Medal – for excellence in the utilisation of social science training, research experience, teaching and/or working life to facilitate and create connections and opportunities among the various stakeholders involved in social science research
• Pou Aronui Award – for distinguished service to the humanities-aronui

Technology and Applied Sciences

• MacDiarmid Medal – for outstanding scientific research that demonstrates the potential for application to human benefit
• Pickering Medal – to recognise excellence and innovation in the practical applications of technology
• Tahunui-a-Rangi – for invention or creation of a unique and ingenious structure, device, product, design, system, process, service or artefact(s), which is significant in its economic, social, cultural or environmental impact [New award for 2020] 

Our Finest Honours

• Rutherford Medal – recognises eminent research, scholarship or innovation by a person, or team, in any field of engineering, humanities, mathematics, sciences, social science, or technology (UPDATED)
• Te Puāwaitanga Award – in recognition of research that has made an eminent and distinctive contribution to Te Ao Māori and Indigenous knowledge

UPDATE: nominations for all medals and awards have been extended to 30 April 2020 but we encourage you to make nominations as early as you can.