The Carl Gans Awards, administered by the Division of Comparative Biomechanics, are named in recognition of Carl Gans’ scientific career and editorial contributions to animal morphology, biomechanics, and functional biology. Annually, two awards may be given, one in each of these categories: (1) to an outstanding young investigator for distinguished contributions to the field of comparative biomechanics, and (2) to an investigator at any career stage for a significant contribution to the literature of comparative biomechanics published in the preceding five calendar years, including, but not limited to, research papers, review articles, and published books. For the young investigator award, eligible candidates are those who have completed their doctorate within the past seven years. A maximum of one award from each category may be given per year.

Candidates must be members of SICB and may either apply directly or be nominated. Recipients of the Bartholomew Award may not receive the Gans Award. Young investigator candidates and candidates for individual literature contributions can be nominated a maximum of three times.

To select a winner for each award, the Chair of the DCB shall appoint a Gans Award Committee consisting of at least three Full, Emeritus, or Life Members of SICB and the DCB to serve as judges. The Chair of DCB will designate one of the members as the Chair of the Gans Award Committee. Committee members will normally serve for no more than three years, with at least one member being replaced each year. The Committee may recommend approval of a maximum of one candidate per award to the Chair of the DCB. The committee may decide not to recommend an award in either one or both categories.

Depending on the availability of funds, the Chair of DCB may authorize whole or partial reimbursement of appropriate expenses incurred by the awardee(s) in attending the annual SICB meeting. The awardee(s) will be presented with a plaque or certificate, and the winner of the Young Investigator Award shall give a featured lecture at the Annual Meeting of SICB. Depending on available funds, the Chair of DCB may also augment awards to further the following themes: (1) field and laboratory work in comparative biomechanics, (2) collaborative work with scientists in Israel, (3) travel to visit Ben-Gurion University (Sde-Boqer Campus) and the Gans Library, and to conduct fieldwork in Israel, and (4) support of collaborative international research. These research themes are in recognition of Carl Gans’ efforts to promote and foster international collaborations among scientists, as well as his ability to show that all animals are interesting.

Nominations for the two awards can be submitted via:
https://sicb.burkclients.com/divnew/gansyoung.php
https://sicb.burkclients.com/divnew/gans.php

For any questions about the Gans Awards, please contact the chair of DCB at chair.dcb@sicb.org.

Past Winners