Johns Hopkins celebrates 'brightest and best' at Catalyst and Discovery Awards gala
37 Catalyst Award winners and 115 Discovery Award winners were recognized at Johns Hopkins' annual celebration at the George Peabody Library
By Hub staff report
/ Published Nov 1, 2023Johns Hopkins University honored the recipients of its 2023 Catalyst and Discovery Awards at its annual celebration on Wednesday, Oct. 25, in the George Peabody Library.
This year's Catalyst Awards, which were officially announced in May, recognized 37 faculty members from 29 different departments. The award was created to support promising early-career faculty members, offering them research grants of up to $75,000, mentorship opportunities, and institutional recognition. This year's awardees represented a wide range of fields and departments, including dermatology, environmental health and engineering, artificial intelligence, international economics, music theory, food systems, and neurosurgery.
The Discovery Awards, also announced in May, celebrate cross-divisional teams who produce high-quality work and research through their collaboration. This year, the award recognized 35 teams totaling 115 people. Projects included maximizing cell cancer death, reimagining a Johns Hopkins science television show, and studying youth violence in Baltimore.
During his remarks at the awards celebration, Provost Ray Jayawardhana took a moment to congratulate JHU's "brightest and best."
"Since its founding as the nation's first research university, Johns Hopkins has been defined by a relentless pursuit of new knowledge," he said. "One of our primary tasks as an institution is to harness the brilliance, curiosity, and expertise, particularly of our early career faculty, and find novel ways to spur bold innovation and interdisciplinary connections. ... [Tonight's awardees] represent some of the university's most creative scholars, and I am pleased the selection of winners reflects the great diversity of expertise and talent embedded throughout Johns Hopkins."
Applications for next year's Catalyst and Discovery Awards will open soon and are due in February 2024.