D. Gordon Sharp Award

The Annual D. Gordon Sharp Graduate Innovator Award

In honor of Dr. D. Gordon Sharp, former faculty member of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, an award for Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. students was established in 2014.  During his career, Dr. Sharp was widely recognized for his innovation, his curiosity and the breadth of his thinking.  He was a pioneer in both electron microscopy and high-speed centrifugation that he used to elucidate the nature of viruses.  He was generous with his time and trained many graduate students, letting them discover the joy of discovery.  His former students have established this award in honor of him.

Eligible applicants should exhibit exceptional creativity, perseverance, ability to see and ask big picture questions, and the independent drive to seek out (or develop) the best technologies/models to answer these questions.  These students also should have developed the ability to read and think broadly to inform and direct their research into new directions.  Given the emphasis on innovation and creativity, it is possible that competitive nominees will not yet have published much of their data at the time of nomination, although it should be clear that quality publications will be forthcoming in the near term.  In keeping with Dr. Sharp’s own commitment to mentoring, appropriate nominees should demonstrate a commitment to sharing knowledge and mentoring.  Eligible students are those whose graduation date is no earlier than May 11, 2024 (this year’s doctoral hooding ceremony).

The Department will give a monetary award of $500 to an outstanding M&I graduate student who is judged to have carried out the most innovative research project during his or her career at UNC.

Nominations

The dissertation advisor should assemble all elements and send electronically to Jamie Desoto (jamie_desoto@unc.edu)

• The dissertation advisor should prepare a letter of nomination outlining how the student meets the expectations of this award as outlined above.
• The student should prepare a research statement (2 pages or less, single-spaced, 1″ margins, 12 point font) giving an overview of their dissertation work and highlighting the innovative aspects of the work. Literature references do not count against the length limit.
• Two other letters of recommendation should be included (each 1 page or less).
• A current CV of the student

Review

A committee consisting of faculty appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies will review the nominations.  Selection of the Sharp Graduate Innovator Award recipient will be based on the quality, creativity, and significance of the student’s research, demonstration of innovation, demonstration of a commitment to sharing knowledge and mentoring, the comments of the references, and the quality of the research description written by the student.

Recipient Announced

The Sharp Award recipient will be announced at the Graduate Program Welcome event on May 17, 2024.

Nominations must be received by 12:00 pm (noon) on Wednesday, May 1, 2024

(Students may only be nominated for this award or the G. Philip Manire award, not both.)

 D. Gordon Sharp Graduate Innovator Award (est. 2014) 

Last updated 2/3/2025.