SASBMB Gold & SASBMB Silver Medal Awards

You are invited to nominate candidates for the SASBMB Gold and SASBMB Silver medal awards, which will be made at the 28th Congress of the SASBMB in Polokwane from 7 to 10 July 2024. The awards are made by Council to acknowledge the contributions made by members of the Society toward Biochemistry and/or Molecular Biology. You may use the guidelines below in the selection of a suitable candidate. A nominee need not necessarily comply with all the criteria in each category e.g. an NRF rating, they are meant to provide a framework which will be used to assess nominations.

SASBMB Gold Award

Current Society guidelines state that “the Gold Medal Award is awarded to a senior member of the Society who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of Biochemistry and/or Molecular Biology in Southern Africa and internationally”. Candidates should have displayed a consistent record of national and international research excellence, as evidenced by achievement in a number of the following categories:

• An internationally recognised standard of academic research, evidenced by, e.g., an NRF rating of A or B.
• A track record of academic scholarship and dynamic scientific leadership.
• A track record of high-impact scientific publication.
• A track record of training and delivering post-graduate students (Masters and Doctoral).
• The contribution of the candidate towards building the disciplines of Biochemistry and/or Molecular Biology both nationally and internationally.
• The overall impact of the candidate as a scientist.
• A track record of participation in activities not necessarily directly related to the candidate’s own research in order to promote Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and the objectives of SASBMB.

SASBMB Silver award

Candidates should be younger than 40 years old or have obtained a PhD within the last five years, and have displayed a record of national and international research excellence, as evidenced by achievement in a number of the following categories:

• An internationally recognised standard of academic research, evidenced by, e.g., an NRF rating of C1, Y1 or P.
• Show potential of academic scholarship and dynamic scientific leadership.
• Recent scientific publication in medium and high impact journals
• Be involved with post graduate student (PhD and MSc) training
• Must show the potential for building the discipline of Biochemistry and/or Molecular Biology both nationally and internationally.
• Illustrate recent participation in the activities of the SASBMB.

Your submission should contain a letter of motivation and a sufficiently detailed CV of the nominee.

Send your submissions by e-mail to Prof Francois van der Westhuizen at Francois.vanderwesthuizen@nwu.ac.za and copy them to secretary@sasbmb.org.za Emails should contain SASBMB Gold Nomination or SASBMB Silver Nomination in the subject field.

Council reserves the right not to make an award if, in their opinion, a suitable candidate is not nominated.

The deadline for nominations is Friday April 5, 2024.