Early Career Award

The BCI Society Early Career Award

Established in 2020, the BCI Society Early Career Award (ECA) recognizes early career scientists for outstanding work that advances the BCI field through neuroscientific, neurotechnological, or translational pursuits. The ECA 2026 will recognize an individual or individuals who have contributed significantly to one or more of the following: i) the understanding of brain structure, function, or physiology relevant to BCIs; ii) the development of algorithms, software, and/or hardware related to BCIs; iii) clinical application or end-user oriented research relevant to BCIs. Nominees must have a history of scholarly work that has advanced the field. The ECA 2026 will be presented in the summer of 2026.

Evaluation

Applications will be reviewed by jurors appointed by the BCI Society Awards Committee, which currently includes Donatella Mattia, Theresa Vaughan, Dean Krusienski, Cuntai Guan, Tengjun Liu, Esmee Dohle, and Matt Fifer.

Please note that one or more winners may be named at the discretion of the Awards Committee and the jurors. Jurors will consider diversity (including gender, geography, and topic of research) when making their recommendations.

Application information

Important for the Nominators

• The nominator must be a regular member of the BCI Society in good standing.
• Self-nominations are allowed.
• Members of the BCI Society Board or Awards Committee may not be nominated.
• Each BCI Society Member may nominate a maximum of two persons.

Important for the Nominee

An eligible nominee for the 2026 ECA is:

• a member in good standing of the BCI Society:
• within 10 years of earning their first terminal degree (e.g., MD or PhD), and has not yet received tenure or equivalent at their institution*
• not a trainee (e.g., a postdoctoral fellow);
• willing to accept the nomination;
• willing, if selected, to provide the Society with a picture and a brief biosketch, and to deliver a talk at the 12th International BCI Meeting to be held June 7 – 10, 2027, in Šibenik, Croatia.

* The BCI Society Awards Committee will give special consideration to nominees whose career has been interrupted for breaks related to parenting leave, medical leave, or military service; for this or any other eligibility clarifications, please email matthew.fifer@jhuapl.edu.

Applications for the Early Career Award must include the following:

• a nomination form, including a half-page summary of why this nominee deserves the ECA;
• the nominee’s updated CV (5 pages max) in the non-fellowship version of the NIH biosketch format (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm; eRA Commons number not required). The personal statement should highlight the nominee’s accomplishments and contributions to the BCI field;
• two letters of recommendation (maximum one page) from individuals other than the nominator;
• if applicable, an up to one-page summary of the special considerations (such as for military service, parenting leave, or medical leave) that explain why the nominee should be considered if more than ten years after the first terminal degree.

Please use only PDF formatting for these documents.