Women in Cell Biology Medal

The 2026 BSCB Women in Cell Biology Early Career Award Medal was awarded to Rashmi Priya

Details of previous winners of the medal can be seen here.

The BSCB Women in Cell Biology Early Career Award Medal was founded in 2015 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the BSCB.  This annual honour is awarded to an outstanding female cell biologist who has started her own research group within the last 6 years, with allowances for career breaks. Applicants must also have published at least one senior author paper from their own laboratory.

“While the concept of women-only prizes is controversial, most scientists think that we lose far too many talented, young, female scientists. We hope that this award will help raise the profile of some of our most promising young stars at a crucial stage in their career and that the awardees will serve as inspiring role models for the next generation of female cell biologists.” 

Professor Jordan Raff, former BSCB President.

This prize complements the already established Hooke Medal, awarded annually by the BSCB to a UK-based cell biologist of any gender who has made exceptional contributions to the field.

The medal was designed by Dr. Veronika Ganeva and you can read more about the medal design here.

Winners are selected by the BSCB Committee and  presented with their medal at the BSCB Annual Meeting at which they  give their Medal Lecture.

Nominees must work predominantly in the UK or Ireland. Nominations must be supported by two scientists (at least one of whom is a BSCB member).  BSCB members can nominate themselves but this needs to be accompanied by supporting statements from two scientists.  Nominations should provide a full CV including a list of relevant publications.  The two supporting statements must include a short (no longer than 1 page) summary of the candidate’s major contributions to cell biology.  At least one letter of support must include a statement of eligibility: that the candidate has been independent for less than 6 years by the deadline for nomination and has at least one senior author paper. Note that we can be flexible in considering nominations for scientists whose careers may have been interrupted for any reason.  Please include this in the statement of eligibility. Current BSCB committee members are not eligible for nomination.

Nominations should be sent to the BSCB Secretary by 1^st November.