Nominations for the 2012 Nature Awards for Mentoring in Science opened on
June 13th. The 2012 awards focus on the Nordic countries, including
Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Two prizes of
€10,000 (or the equivalent local currency) will be awarded, one for
mid-career and one for lifetime achievement. Nominations close on Monday 13
August 2012.

The panel of judges for the 2012 Awards will be chaired by Hans Wigzell,
Professor Emeritus of Immunology at the Department of Microbiology, Tumour
and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. The panel of judges
consists of:
Harald Stenmark - Department of Biochemistry, the Norwegian Radium
Hospital, Norway
Ruth Palmer - Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University,
Sweden
Eugene Polzik - Danish National Research Foundation Center for
Quantum Optics (Quantop), Niels Bohr Institutet, Denmark
Markku Kulmala - Department of Physics, University of Helsinki,
Finland
Karl Anker Jørgensen, Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University,
Denmark

Nominees may work in any discipline within the natural sciences, and should
be resident in Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway or Sweden. They
may be nominated by colleagues and ex-colleagues or nominate themselves.
Nominations for a candidate must include independent testimonials by at
least five researchers mentored by their nominee, not all over the same
period.

Full details and nomination forms are available on the 2012 Award page on
nature.com. More information about the Nature Awards for Mentoring in
Science is available on the community section on nature.com

"Too often mentoring goes unrecognized and Nature is delighted to celebrate
such an important contribution to scientific research," says Nature
Editor-in-Chief Dr Philip Campbell, who is also a judge. "We look forward
to receiving nominations from across the Nordic region."

The annual Nature Awards for Mentoring in Science, launched in 2005 to
recognize outstanding scientific mentorship, focus on a specific country or
countries each year. In previous years the Nature Awards have highlighted
top-notch mentors in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South
Africa, and the UK.

There is also a related editorial which can be found at:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v486/n7402/full/486157b.html

Nature is the weekly, international, interdisciplinary journal of science,
published by Nature Publishing Group.

Rachel Twinn
Senior Press Officer, Nature
Nature Publishing Group
4 Crinan Street, London N1 9XW
Tel: +44 20 7843 4658
Fax: +44 20 78434951
Email: r.twinn@nature.com