Brown’s Celebration of Research marked its 10th anniversary by honoring more than double the number of awardees recognized last year, and shifting to the start of the fall semester to align with the launch of the 2027 internal funding cycle. The event was held on September 15, 2026 in Sayles Hall and led by Deputy Provost Wendy Schiller and Vice President for Research Greg Hirth.

The Division of Research hosts the annual event to recognize the winners of Brown’s competitive internal funding programs: Research Seed Awards—the University’s flagship support for transformative ideas, and Richard B. Salomon Awards. The event also honors the winners of the prestigious Research Achievement Awards program, now in its 10th year. 

Celebrating a decade of research excellence, the mood in Sayles Hall was uplifting and festive, reflecting both the start of the semester and the sheer volume of awardees. Schiller, deputy provost and political science professor, gave opening remarks and shared her own story of receiving a Salomon Award.

“This is always a great day to celebrate the people who won,” said Schiller. “The amount of support that Brown has been able to give to emerging scholars, mid-career, and full career scholars over the last 15 to 20 years has really enabled extraordinary research and career development.”

She noted that the Salomon Awards, for example, started at $5,000 in the late ’90s and early 2000s, then grew to $15,000 and beyond in the mid 2000s.

“It was a completely different landscape back then,” Schiller said, sharing how an early Salomon Grant funded her research on 19th-century state legislatures. That pilot study led to a published article, a major National Science Foundation grant with a coauthor at MIT, and ultimately a published book. “That’s one small example of how this kind of support isn't just about a single project or grant—it can be truly career-making.”

“Congratulations to everybody who received any kind of recognition or award,” said Schiller. “And we want to make sure that Brown continues to be a place that fosters research excellence and research accessibility.”

Presentation of Awards

Vice President for Research Greg Hirth led the presentation of awards, and began by acknowledging the current funding landscape. 

“As vice president for research, I see extraordinary research and innovation all across the University,” said Hirth. “There are so many success stories, major grant wins, strong papers, and prestigious awards, and that's what we're here to celebrate. And yet we're also dealing with unprecedented times with our federal funding. But we're doing pretty well despite all of those headwinds, and that's due to all of your hard work and creative ideas.

“This year, we've honored 85 faculty members who we're celebrating today, with over $3.5 million dollars of funding from the University. It's our pleasure to be able to award this, but even more gratifying to see the remarkable achievements that come out of it,” said Hirth. “I also want to thank the 130 faculty members who reviewed our proposals this year, most of whom were former award winners.”

Hirth presented 11 Research Achievement Awards, including seven Early Career Research Achievement Awards and four Mid-Career Research Achievement Awards. Each awardee received a $5,000 stipend and was presented with a personalized award on stage. He then recognized 21 Salomon Awardees for projects deemed to be of exceptional merit, followed by 53 Seed Awardees—an expanded cohort made possible by generous donor support. 

“From early-stage Seed Awards that propel fresh ideas to long-term Achievement Awards that mark significant milestones, the Celebration of Research honors Brown researchers at every stage of their careers,” said Hirth.

This year’s supported research addresses critical challenges across healthcare, technology, environment, and society—including projects spanning microbiome metabolism, knee injury biomechanics, climate modeling, AI applications in mathematics, and healthcare access for justice-involved populations.

Research Achievement Awards

The Research Achievement Awards recognize extraordinary research contributions by Brown faculty in the categories of Humanities and Social Sciences, Life Sciences and Public Health, Physical Sciences, and Hospital-based Research. Scholars are nominated for these awards by their colleagues for demonstrating exceptional scholarship and advancing knowledge in their field in important and innovative ways.

Early Career Research Achievement Awards are honored each year, and in alternating years, the program honors Mid-Career Research Achievement Awards and Distinguished Research Achievement Awards. The 2026 awards honored Mid-Career Research Achievement Awards.

Eleven faculty members were selected for the 2026 Research Achievement Awards.

Research Achievement Award Recipients

Salomon Awards

The Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Awards provide a maximum of $15,000 to support outstanding faculty research and scholarship projects, particularly junior faculty members building their research portfolios. From 1995 to 1999, the program was made possible by the generous bequest of Richard B. Salomon, a former chancellor of Brown University, and the University has continued to fund the program. Since the program’s inception, DOR has awarded 341 Salomon Awards totaling $5 million.

Twenty-one faculty members received 2026 Salomon Research Awards.

Salomon Award Recipients

Seed Awards

The Research Seed Awards program, currently in its third decade, supports faculty in forging collaborations for new research avenues and boosting their chances of securing external funding. The Seed Awards range from $50,000 to $100,000, designed to help faculty establish these collaborations and enhance their funding competitiveness. Since the inception of this program, the Division of Research has awarded 309 Seed Awards, representing an investment of more than $18.7 million in faculty research.

While the Division’s traditional seed grants have long been a springboard for new ideas, this year presented an extraordinary opportunity for the program. Thanks to donor generosity, the Division quadrupled the Seed Program—growing from 15 awardees last year to 53 awardees in 2026. This historic expansion produced three targeted tracks designed to meet Brown’s evolving needs: 

• Research Resilience Awards provide continuity support for research experiencing federal disruptions.
• Research Innovation Awards spark cross-disciplinary collaborations that position teams for future funding success.
• Traditional Research Seed Awards generate pilot data and cross-disciplinary momentum to fuel future funding.

Fifty-three faculty members received 2026 Seed Awards.

Seed Awardees