Pathways for highly prestigious external awards

Increase your likelihood of receiving a highly prestigious award

The Association of American Universities (AAU) evaluates its member institutions — and those hoping to become members — using a set of indicators that includes external awards designated by the National Research Council as “highly prestigious.” As an AAU member since 1909, KU prioritizes the nomination of faculty who are strong candidates for highly prestigious awards, not only to bolster the university’s ranking but also to bring national and global recognition to research excellence. Among the many KU faculty members who have received prestigious or highly prestigious external recognition for their research and scholarship are, clockwise from top left, Christopher Beard, Alice Bean, Huazhen Fang and Sarah Deer.

The table below includes the highly prestigious awards that are KU’s primary targets, along with pathway awards that may strengthen a candidate’s nomination for the target award.

Interested in pursuing external recognition?
Learn more about KU's Office of Faculty Awards & Recognition and how to connect with the director.

Common award pathways

The rightmost column in the table below shows awards commonly earned before receiving the highly prestigious award in the same row. The percentage listed next to each bulleted pathway award represents the proportion of highly prestigious award recipients nationally who first earned the pathway award over the past five years.

For example, 26.3% of Rome Prize recipients first received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award, 15.8% first received a Millard Meiss Publication Fund award, and so on.

Requirements for non-self-nominated awards vary, but many require that the nomination process remain confidential and candidates not be made aware of the nomination. Faculty are encouraged to update their CVs at least once a year to ensure currency and alignment with award criteria, regardless of submission confidentiality.

Highly prestigious award	Career stage	Nomination	Pathway awards (awards commonly earned before the highly prestigious award)
Rome Prize	Early career	Self	Fulbright U.S. Student Program (26%) Millard Meiss Publication Fund (16%) Guggenheim Fellowship (11%)
NAS Award in Molecular Biology	Early career	Non-self	Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists in Life Sciences Finalist (40%) HHMI Investigator/Alumni Investigator (40%) Agilent Thought Leader Award (20%) AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize (20%)
NSF Alan T Waterman Award	Early career	Non-self	NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program (56%) MIT Technology Review/Innovators Under 35/Global (33%) Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists & Engineers (PECASE) (33%)
American Council of Learned Societies/ ACLS Fellows (ACLS/SSRD/NEH) International and Area Studies Fellow	All stages	Self	Fulbright U.S. Student Program (13%) National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)/Summer Stipends Awards (13%) American Council for Learned Societies/Andrew W. Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships (9%) American Philosophical Society/Franklin Grants (8%) NEH Fellowships for University Teachers (8%) Fulbright Scholar (7%)
Guggenheim Fellowship	All stages	Self	NEH Fellowships for University Teachers (10%) Fulbright Scholar (10%) American Council of Learned Societies/ACLS Fellows (ACLS/SSRC/NEH International and Area Studies Fellowships) (9%) NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program (9%) American Academy of Arts & Sciences Member/Fellow (9%) Fulbright U.S. Student Program (8%)
MacArthur Fellow	All stages	Self	NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program (15%) Guggenheim Fellowship (12%) Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists & Engineers (PECASE) (10%) American Academy of Arts & Sciences Member/Fellow (8%) ACLS Fellows (ACLS/SSRC/NEH International and Area Studies Fellowships) (7%)
National Humanities Center (NHC) Fellow	All stages	Self	National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowships for University Teachers (11%) NEH Summer Stipend Awards (11%) Radcliffe Institute Fellowship (8%) Guggenheim Fellowship (6%) NHC Fellow (6%) Fulbright Scholar (6%)
Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences/CASBS Residency Fellow	All stages	Self	Guggenheim Fellowship (17%) CASBS Residency Fellow (9%) American Academy of Arts & Sciences Fellow (7%) National Academies/Ford Foundation Fellowships/Postdoctoral (7%) American Psychological Association /APA Fellow (6%) Association for Psychological Science Fellow (6%) Andrew Carnegie Fellow (6%)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member/Fellow	All stages	Non-self	American Association for the Advancement of Science/AAAS Fellow (27%) Guggenheim Fellowship (15%) National Academy of Sciences Member (12%) Thomas Reuters/Highly Cited Researcher (11%)
National Academy of Sciences Member	All stages	Non-self	American Academy of Arts & Sciences Member/Fellow (46%) American Association for the Advancement of Science/AAAS Fellow (40%) Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (15%) NAS Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellows (13%)
National Academy of Engineering Members	All stages	Non-self	Institute for Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE)/IEEE Fellow (25%) American Association for the Advancement of Science/AAAS Fellow (20%) National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow (17%) NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER Program (17%) Thomas Reuters/Highly Cited Researcher (13%)
National Academy of Medicine Member	All stages	Non-self	American Society for Clinical Investigation/Member (22%) American Association for the Advancement of Science/AAAS Fellow (20%) Thomas Reuters/Highly Cited Researcher (16%) National Academy of Sciences Member (14%)
National Academy of Public Administration Fellow	All stages	Non-self	American Society for Public Administration/Presidential Citation of Merit (18%) American Society for Public Administration/Section for Women in Public Administration/Rita Mae Kelly (13%) Fulbright Scholar (10%)
National Academy of Education Member	All stages	Non-self	American Educational Research Association/AERA Fellows (56%) National Academy of Education/Spencer Fellow (14%) American Psychological Association/APA Fellow (11%)
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator/Alumni Investigator	All stages	Non-self	NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2) (30%) HHMI Simons Faculty Scholar (26%) Searle Scholars (26%) National Academy of Sciences/Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellows (21%) NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (21%)