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Eligibility

For 2025, entrants must be early career scientists who hold an M.D., PhD, or M.D./PhD at the time of entry, and have received their degree in the last 10 years. 

While the research may be part of a larger team effort, an eligible entrant must be a single individual and the essay must focus on their contribution. The applicant must have done or directed all of the work and it must have been performed in the last three years.

An entrant may not win more than one Science Prize using the same essay or a similar essay on the same research.

Essays on the same research cannot win more than one Science Prize regardless of who the entrant is.

Past winners of a Science Prize cannot be eligible for another Science Prize until at least 5 years have passed since the award.

The Prize will be judged on the basis of 1,000-word essay and supporting documents. The essay should describe the innovative research performed by the applicant that reveals exciting novel functions of the microbiota that has potential to contribute to our understanding of human or veterinary health and disease or to guide therapeutic interventions.

If you have questions regarding the format of the essay, please refer to the essay of the previous year's winners.  They can be found on the prize web page at: 

https://www.science.org/content/page/past-winners-noster-science-microbiome-prize

Click here to register and submit an entry for the 2025 Noster and Science Prize.