Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise

The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise support emerging to mid-career immigrant professionals who have demonstrated exceptional achievements early in their careers.

Young immigrant research scientists and artists are welcome to apply
$50,000 cash award
An open call for applications will be announced in Spring 2022

Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science

Silvi Rouskin points to a scientific equipment monitor while a lab student looks on.

Three prizes of $50,000
Foreign-born research scientists whose work exemplifies outstanding scientific accomplishment and represents a significant contribution to their area of research
Applications are now closed. Winners will be notified in Fall 2021

Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Dance

A dancer extends arm in a dance pose.

Three prizes of $50,000
Immigrant dancers, choreographers, and artistic directors whose work demonstrates a significant contribution to dance and movement arts in the United States
Applications are now closed. Winners will be notified in Fall 2021

Selection Process

Three winners are selected in each category through an application process juried by panels of experts in each field.

The Creative Promise Prizewinners each receive a $50,000 cash award and are honored at an awards ceremony in New York City.

Meet the 2021 Creative Promise Prizewinners

Mohamed Abou Donia receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for demonstrating the potential of the human microbiome as a source of novel drugs and uncovering the basis of microbiome-driven drug metabolism.

Ibrahim Cissé receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for using super-resolution biological imaging to directly visualize the dynamic nature of gene expression in living cells.

Silvi Rouskin receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for developing methods to unravel the shapes of RNA molecules inside cells and aiding the potential development of RNA-based therapeutics.

Juan Pablo González receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Filmmaking for the artistic rigor and deep emotional engagement that he brings to his immersive and intimate explorations of his hometown in rural Mexico.

Miko Revereza receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Filmmaking for the ingenuity and urgency with which he bridges the personal and the political, in works that challenge us to rethink aspects of both documentary filmmaking and the immigrant experience.

Nanfu Wang receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Filmmaking for the impact and courage of her riveting documentaries, which are lucid and unflinching in confronting the consequences of systemic oppression and corruption in China.