The UW–Madison Postdoc Excellence Awards were established by the UW–Madison Postdoctoral Association to encourage and reward excellence, innovation, and effectiveness in the mentoring, teaching, and service of UW–Madison postdocs.

There are three categories of award: 

• Postdoc Excellence in Mentoring
• Postdoc Excellence in Teaching
• Postdoc Excellence in Service 

Eligibility is restricted to UW–Madison postdocs with the appointment titles: Research Associate, Postdoctoral Fellow and/or Postdoctoral Trainee. Individuals with the title Honorary Associate/Fellow should contact Imogen Hurley (ihurley@wisc.edu) to confirm that they are eligible to participate.

Postdocs may be nominated by themselves, current/former mentors or mentees, or colleagues. If postdocs nominate themselves, we ask that they have either a mentor, mentee, or colleague, as applicable, submit a letter of support simply stating that they have read your nomination letter and support it. 

Nomination letters (2 page maximum) should provide specific details as to how the nominated individual excels in a given category and why they are deserving of the award. It is important that you address the specific criteria listed in the provided rubrics (here), as they will be used to judge nominations for each of the awards. 

The deadline for submission is Friday, April 10, at 11:59 pm CST.

Nominees of the 2026 UW–Madison Postdoc Excellence Awards and the UW–Madison Distinguished Faculty and Staff Postdoc Mentoring Awards will be recognized at the Celebration of Postdoc Excellence on Friday, May 22nd, 2026 at the Memorial Union. This event is open to all UW–Madison postdocs, their families, mentors, and research group friends.

If you have any questions regarding the nomination process, please email the Postdoc Awards Committee (uwpa@postdoc.wisc.edu).