NEW YORK, October 13, 2015 -- The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences today announced the three winners and six finalists of the 2015 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists. Established in 2007, the Blavatnik Regional Awards honor the excellence of outstanding postdoctoral scientists from institutions across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Winners are awarded $30,000 each and finalists are awarded $10,000 each in unrestricted funds.
The 2015 Blavatnik Regional Awards received 130 outstanding nominations from 24 academic and research institutions in the New York tri-state area. Winners and finalists were selected by a distinguished jury of senior scientists and engineers.
"These talented young scientists will continue to foster innovation and new discoveries for years to come. I congratulate the 2015 postdoctoral winners and finalists, and look forward to following their future scientific accomplishments," says Len Blavatnik, Founder and Chairman of Access Industries and head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
2015 Blavatnik Regional Awards Winners
Life Sciences: Hani Goodarzi, The Rockefeller University
Chemistry: Arash Nikoubashman, Princeton University (Now at the University of Mainz)
Physical Sciences & Engineering: Nicolás Young, Columbia University
2015 Blavatnik Regional Awards Finalists
Life Sciences: Allyson Friedman, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Now at Hunter College, City University of New York)
Ziv Shulman, The Rockefeller University (Now at the Weizmann Institute of Science)
Chemistry: Xiang Gao, Yale University
Jinzhong Lin, Yale University
Physical Sciences & Engineering: Yang Liu, Princeton University (Now at Stanford University)
Dennis Perepelitsa, Brookhaven National Laboratory
"We applaud our 2015 postdoctoral winners and finalists on their remarkable achievements and thank our institutional partners and jury members for helping us highlight some of the most innovative and promising researchers training in the tri-state area," says Dr. Mercedes Gorre, Executive Director of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.
Winners and finalists of the 2015 Blavatnik Regional Awards will be honored at the Academy's 12th annual Gala held at the Conrad Hotel in New York on November 9th, 2015.
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For media requests, please contact Marina Blinova (mblinova@nyas.org; 212-298-8626). For additional programmatic information, please contact Blavatnik Awards (blavatnikawards@nyas.org; 212-298-8624).
About the Blavatnik Family Foundation
The Blavatnik Family Foundation is an active supporter of leading educational, scientific, cultural, and charitable institutions in the United States, Europe, and throughout the world. The Foundation is headed by Len Blavatnik, an American industrialist and philanthropist. Mr. Blavatnik is the founder and Chairman of Access Industries, a privately-held U.S. industrial group with global interests in natural resources and chemicals, media and telecommunications, emerging technologies, life sciences and real estate. For more detailed information, please visit: http://www.accessindustries.com
About the New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization that since 1817 has been committed to advancing science, technology, and society worldwide. With more than 20,000 members in 100 countries around the world, the Academy is creating a global community of science for the benefit of humanity. The Academy's core mission is to advance scientific knowledge, positively impact the major global challenges of society with science-based solutions, and increase the number of scientifically informed individuals in society at large. Please visit us online at http://www.nyas.org