Nominations Open for Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology DEADLINE: March 24, 2017

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is now accepting nominations for its fourth annual Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology. Each year, this award is given to an outstanding woman in the industrial biotechnology sector who has made significant contributions to the advancement of the biobased economy and biotech innovation. The 2017 BIO Rosalind Franklin Award will be presented at the 2017 BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, which will be held July 23-26, 2017 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Rosalind Franklin Nominee Criteria

Nominees should be visionaries, exhibit leadership qualities, and have pioneered efforts in industrial biotechnology and related fields. Applicants should demonstrate significant innovative contributions in a field integral to the advancement of a biobased economy. The Award will be sponsored by the Rosalind Franklin Society, whose goal is to support and showcase the careers of eminent women in science.

Rosalind Franklin Award nominations are due March 24, 2017. READ MORE / MORE

Just as Rosalind Franklin paved the way for women in the biotechnology field, the BIO Rosalind Franklin Award will be presented to a pioneering woman in the industrial biotechnology sector who has made significant contributions to the advancement of the biobased economy and biotech innovation. The Rosalind Franklin Award will stand as a lasting memory to the legacy left by Rosalind Franklin, who was instrumental in the discovery and our greater understanding of the molecular structure of DNA, by honoring those women who too have made significant contributions in industrial biotechnology. Through Rosalind Franklin’s use of X-ray diffraction images, the true double helix structure of DNA was discovered. Indeed, it was with the help of Franklin’s images and writings that eventually led Francis Crick and James Watson to release their 1953 model of the structure of DNA. Though often overlooked, Rosalind Franklin’s critical work and discovery in the field has allowed the expansive growth of the biotechnology industry to become what it is today. As said by John Desmond Bernal, a fellow X-ray crystallographer, of Franklin’s crystallographic portraits of DNA, “Her photographs were among the most beautiful X-ray photographs of any substance ever taken.”

With this award we hope to not only honor Rosalind Franklin’s legacy, but honor those women who have also shown exemplary leadership and led the way through previously uncharted territory.

Note: Awardees are expected to commit to being present to receive the award and to give ten to fifteen minutes of remarks at a plenary session when they accept the award in person at the 2017 BIO World Congress, July 23-26, 2017 in Montreal. READ MORE