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 designers are welcome to apply
Six $50,000 cash awards
Applications are open through June 12, 2023

Biomedical science applications are now open

Three prizes of $50,000 each
Immigrant research scientists whose work exemplifies outstanding scientific accomplishment and represents a significant contribution to their area of research

Learn more about science prizes

Designers are welcome to apply

Three prizes of $50,000 each
Immigrant designers who demonstrate outstanding early achievement in design

Learn more about design prizes

Selection Process

An open call for applications is announced annually; eligible candidates are encouraged to apply. Three winners are selected in each category through an application process juried by panels of experts in each field.

Meet the 2023 Creative Promise Prizewinners

Edward Chouchani receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for his work to decipher the molecular mechanisms that drive metabolic disease, with the aim of developing therapeutic interventions targeted at the molecular drivers of metabolism within cells.

Biyu J. He receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for her leadership in the field of cognitive neuroscience, and for her groundbreaking discoveries on the biological bases of perceptual cognition and subjective experience.

Shixin Liu receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise for applying cutting-edge biophysical tools to directly visualize, manipulate, and understand the physiological function of nanometer-scale biomolecular machines including DNA replication and transcription complexes at the single-molecule level.

Arooj Aftab receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music for her evocative songs and compositions that incorporate a range of influences from semi-classical Pakistani music and Urdu poetry, to jazz harmonies and experimental music.

Juan Pablo Contreras receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music for his work as a composer and conductor of orchestral music that draws on his Mexican heritage, and for his leadership in founding the Orquesta Latino Mexicana.

Ruby Ibarra receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music for her hip-hop and spoken word performances that center her experience as a Filipina American woman, and for her powerful lyrics that address colonialism, immigration, colorism, and misogyny.