The Bow­er Award and Prize for Achieve­ment in Sci­ence was first pre­sent­ed in 1991. It rec­og­nizes out­stand­ing achieve­ment in life, phys­i­cal, and applied sci­ences; inno­va­tion in the sci­ences; and train­ing of sci­en­tists. The award is giv­en with­out regard for nation­al­i­ty and includes a gold medal and prize of $250,000.
 
2005 Bow­er Awards Focus — Catalysis
2005 THEMe — Chem­istry — the field of catalysis
 
Eli­gi­ble con­tri­bu­tions include, but are not lim­it­ed to the areas of: Oxi­da­tion catal­y­sis, Hydro­gena­tion catal­y­sis, Hydro­car­bon con­ver­sions (i.e. crack­ing, reform­ing, alky­la­tion), Enan­tios­e­lec­tiv­i­ty, Shape selec­tive catal­y­sis, Olefin poly­mer­iza­tion and oligomer­iza­tion, Olefin Addi­tions, Zeo­lites, Metathe­sis, Catal­y­sis using car­bon monox­ide and car­bon diox­ide, Auto emis­sion and indus­tri­al plant emis­sion cat­a­lysts, Halo­car­bon Catal­y­sis, Fuel Cell Catal­y­sis, Sur­face Stud­ies of Cat­alyt­ic mate­ri­als, New Cat­alyt­ic Materials 

Eligibility

 
This is an inter­na­tion­al com­pe­ti­tion for indi­vid­u­als whose work has had a sig­nif­i­cant impact on the field of catal­y­sis. In cas­es of equal sci­en­tif­ic mer­it, the fac­tor of cur­rent eco­nom­ic val­ue of the dis­cov­ery or appli­ca­tion will weigh favor­ably on behalf of the can­di­date (Bow­er Will, 1986). Can­di­dates for the Award must be liv­ing per­sons, and the win­ner must par­tic­i­pate in the April 2005 Awards Cer­e­mo­ny. This award is for an indi­vid­ual rather than for a group. 

Selection Process

 
Nom­i­na­tions from the world sci­en­tif­ic com­mu­ni­ty and from the Award’s Board of Advi­sors will be screened by a spe­cial pan­el from The Franklin Insti­tute’s Com­mit­tee on Sci­ence and the Arts and by exter­nal ref­er­ees as appropriate.
A care­ful­ly eval­u­at­ed selec­tion of nom­i­na­tions will be pre­sent­ed to the Bow­er Inter­na­tion­al Selec­tion Com­mit­tee, a pan­el of lead­ing sci­en­tists in the cho­sen field, which will rec­om­mend the pro­posed Award recip­i­ent. The nom­i­na­tion of the pro­posed final­ist is brought before the Board of Trustees of The Franklin Insti­tute for final approval 

For more infor­ma­tion see www.fi.edu/tfi/exhibits/bower/04/SCIeligible.html.

An email of intent to nom­i­nate would be appre­ci­at­ed by March 31, 2004. E‑mail to awards@fi.edu. Sub­mit com­plete nom­i­na­tion pack­age by May 31, 2004 (see www.fi.edu/tfi/exhibits/bower/04/SCInominate.html).