Donald B. Lindsley Prize in Behavioral Neuroscience

The Donald B. Lindsley Prize in Behavioral Neuroscience, endowed by The Grass Foundation, recognizes a young neuroscientist's outstanding PhD thesis in the general area of behavioral neuroscience.

Behavioral neuroscience is defined for these purposes as neuroscience research involving behavioral variables or oriented toward the solution of behavioral problems.

Recipients receive a $5,000 prize and complimentary registration, transportation (economy air or ground), and two nights hotel accommodations for the SfN annual meeting. The SfN president presents the prize at a lecture at the meeting.

For more information, please review the Awards and Funding FAQs.

Nomination Criteria & Meeting

Nomination Criteria:

• Self-nomination is not permitted.
• Nominees do not need to be SfN members.
• Nominations must be made or endorsed by an SfN member.
• No person may nominate more than one candidate.
• Current SfN officers and councilors are ineligible for nomination.
• Due to potential conflicts of interest, members of the selection committee may not be the nominees, and they cannot serve as nominators nor write letters of recommendation for this prize.

Nomination materials include the following:

• One nomination letter from the nominee's PhD mentor(s). No additional letters will be accepted.
• One document to include:
  1. Essay (4-6-page (typed, double-spaced) thesis abstract with names and departmental affiliations of thesis committee members).
  2. List of attributions explaining (in the case of collaborative work) which were the contributions of the nominee compared to his/her co-workers.
• Current CV (include date of thesis defense)

All nomination materials must be in English, including full theses if invited for the second round review. For nominees with theses in a language other than English, the selection committee will accept an extended abstract and peer-reviewed publication, both written in English.

Eligibility

Nominees must have a thesis submitted and approved between January 1 and December 31 of the preceding calendar year.

Past Awardees

• 2021: Saurabh Vyas, PhD
• 2020: Kiah Hardcastle, PhD, and Christopher Zimmerman, PhD
• 2019: Brian M. Sweis, PhD
• 2018: Marley Kass, PhD
• 2017: David Herzfeld, PhD
• 2016: Bianca Jones Marlin, PhD
• 2015: Matthew Lovett-Barron, PhD
• 2014: Sung-Yon Kim, PhD
• 2013: Michael Yartsev, PhD
• 2012: Katherine Tschida, PhD
• 2011: Cara Altimus, PhD
• 2010: Roozbeh Kiani, MD, PhD
• 2009: Nandakumar Narayanan, MD; Kay Tye, PhD
• 2008: Ricardo Gil da Costa, PhD
• 2007: Sara Aton, PhD
• 2006: Marianne Hafting Fyhn, PhD
• 2005: Miranda Lim, MD, PhD
• 2004: Sean E. McGuire, PhD
• 2003: Anthony Leonardo, PhD
• 2002: Brian Corneil, PhD; Sharon Low-Zeddies, PhD
• 2001: Wael Asaad, MD, PhD
• 2000: Michele Solis, PhD; Noam Sobel, PhD
• 1999: Michael T. Rogan, PhD
• 1998: Christopher L. Passaglia, PhD
• 1997: Edward G. Freedman, PhD
• 1996: C. Daniel Salzman, MD, PhD
• 1995: Michael S. Brainard, PhD
• 1994: Wendy A. Suzuki, PhD
• 1993: Theresa. A. Jones, PhD
• 1992: Lizabeth M. Romanski, PhD
• 1991: Gregg H. Recanzone, PhD
• 1990: Clifford H. Keller, II, PhD
• 1989: Douglas P. Munoz, PhD
• 1988: Benjamin L. Wolozin, MD, PhD
• 1987: John R. Larson, PhD
• 1986: Douglas G. McMahon, PhD
• 1985: Robert M. Sapolsky, PhD
• 1984: David A. McCormick, PhD
• 1983: Bruce L. Tempel, PhD
• 1982: Marc Breedlove, PhD
• 1981: Mary Anne Della-Fera, PhD; Mark E. Gurney, PhD
• 1980: John K. Chapin, PhD
• 1979: L. Craig Evinger, PhD