Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists was established in 2007 through a partnership between the Blavatnik Family Foundation, headed by Leonard Blavatnik (Russian: Леонид Валентинович Блаватник), chairman of Access Industries, and the New York Academy of Sciences, headed by president Nicholas Dirks.
These cash grant awards are given annually to selected faculty and postdoctoral researchers age 42 years and younger who work in the life and physical sciences and engineering at institutions in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The first Blavatnik Awards were given in New York City on Monday, November 12, 2007. On June 3, 2013, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences announced the expansion of the faculty competition to include young scientists from institutions throughout the United States. In April 2017, the Blavatnik Awards program was expanded to the United Kingdom (UK) and Israel.[1] By the end of 2022, the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists will have awarded prizes totaling US$13.6 million; Blavatnik Award recipients have hailed from 48 countries across six continents.[2]