Nomination Guidelines

The Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) seeks nominations annually from all DOE national laboratories for the DOE Distinguished Mentor Award for Workforce Development in two categories: Science and Technology Mentor and Technical Mentor. The nominations must be coordinated with and submitted to WDTS through the Laboratory Education Director (LED), the individual who leads STEM education and workforce development programs and activities, at each DOE National Laboratory before the announced deadline. DOE national laboratories who are interested in submitting nominations may conduct their internal screening first as needed. The laboratory nomination teams should carefully review the current Guidelines and FAQs in their entirety to ensure the alignment of their internal selection of nominations to represent the laboratory.

  • Each of the 17 DOE Laboratories is invited to nominate a maximum of two (2) individuals in the Science and Technology Mentor or Technical Mentors category. In total, each laboratory can nominate up to four (4) individuals.
  • An individual can only be nominated in one of the above two categories.
  • Nomination packages, including all the nomination materials, must be compiled and submitted by the Laboratory Education Director (LED) of the nominee’s current institution.

Nomination Materials include:

  • Indication of Nomination Category: Science and Technology Mentor or Technical Mentor. An individual can only be nominated for one of the two categories.
  • A letter of nomination and justification. (Limit 9,000 characters; about 1,200 words.)
  • Selection of a primary (required) and secondary (optional) DOE Office for the nominee. If the Office of Science is selected, additional selection of a primary (required) and secondary (optional) SC program (Advanced Scientific Computing Research; Basic Energy Sciences; Biological and Environmental Research; Fusion Energy Sciences; High Energy and Nuclear Physics; DOE Isotope R&D and Production).
  • A statement explaining the nominee’s connection to the selected DOE Office support and relevance to the DOE Office program(s). If the selected DOE Office is Office of Science, explaining SC support and its relevancy to the specific SC programs. (Limit 6,000 characters; about 800 words.)
  • A minimum of 3 but no more than 5 Letters of recommendation (limit of 2 pages or about 1,000 words per letter) from individuals who are familiar with the nominee’s mentoring activities, including at least one from mentees fully supported by the WDTS programs within the last 5 years, one from the nominee’s supervisor, and one from the LED. If more than 3 letters are desired, the nomination laboratory may decide who should provide the remaining letter(s). 
  • A suggested citation summarizing and clearly highlighting the nominee’s mentoring achievements and the specific reason(s) for making this award to the nominee. (Limit 275 characters; about 35 words.)
  • Biographical Sketch (curriculum vitae) of the nominee. Use the same template for Office of Science grant proposal applications. The biographical sketch must include several elements described. (Limit 15,000 characters; about 2,000 words.)

Preparation of Nomination Materials – Instructions and Guidance

  • The submitted nomination materials will provide the sole basis for merit review. Materials should convey specific and factual evidence for worthiness in the context of all the assessment criteria.

Letter of Nomination and Justification

This section, in the context of the assessment criteria, should highlight the nominee’s outstanding mentoring and workforce development achievements underpinning the nomination, and fully describe where and how the achievements have provided leadership and impact related to the DOE Office(s) of the nominee.

Examples of information of interest include, but are not limited to, mentoring of students, educators, faculty, and/or early career researchers, and other contributions to DOE workforce development mission. (Limit 2 pages.)

Selection of a Primary (Required) and Secondary (Optional) SC Program

  • Selection of a primary (required) and secondary (optional) DOE Office for the nominee. If the Office of Science is selected, additional selection of a primary (required) and secondary (optional) SC program (Advanced Scientific Computing Research; Basic Energy Sciences; Biological and Environmental Research; Fusion Energy Sciences; High Energy and Nuclear Physics; DOE Isotope R&D and Production).
  • A statement explaining the nominee’s connection to the selected DOE Office support and relevance to the DOE Office program(s). If the selected DOE Office is Office of Science, explaining SC support and its relevance to SC programs. SC ASCR, BES, BER, FES, HENP,  and/or DOE IRP program(s).

Selections should be justified in the Connection and Relevance to DOE Office(s) mission statement. Eligibility requires sustained science or technology activities supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Connection to DOE Support and Relevance to DOE Offices or SC Programs Statement

Provide a statement explaining the nominee's connection to the selected DOE Support and relevance to the DOE Office or Office of Science SC programs. Eligibility requires sustained science, technology, or technical activities supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. To fulfill this requirement, nominators must make clear how and why there is substantial relevance to the selected DOE Office (s) or SC program(s) and provide evidence of sustained participation on science and technology projects sponsored by the DOE Office (s) or SC programs. (Limit 6,000 characters; about 800 words).

Letters of Recommendation (minimum three but no more than five)

Letters of recommendation (no longer than 2 pages each), in the context of the assessment criteria, should highlight the nominee’s outstanding mentoring and workforce development achievement(s) underpinning the nomination; provide evidence of a commitment to leadership in effective mentoring; and fully describe where and how the achievements have provided leadership and impact related to preparing a new generation of  science and technology workforce at DOE national laboratories and for the nation. The recommender should briefly describe how they know the nominee and how they have first-hand benefited from or witnessed the nominee’s effective mentoring. Required information includes the recommender’s name, position, affiliation, and letter text.

Citation

The suggested citation should summarize and highlight the nominee’s relevant mentoring, scientific, technical, and other professional achievement(s) and impact(s). The citation should be well-supported by the accomplishments and impacts described in the Letter of Nomination and Justification. Citations may be revised based on recommendations from reviewers or SC staff. (Limit 275 characters; about 35 words.)

Biographical Sketch (curriculum vitae)

The biographical sketch must use the standard template for DOE R&D grant proposal applications, which may be generated by the Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv), a cooperative venture maintained at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/. SciENcv has been updated to meet the interagency common format biographical sketches. Within its page limit, the biographical information must include the following items, but is not limited to these elements:

  • Education and Training: Certificate, associate, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral training (if applicable), provide institution/organization, major/area, degree, and year.
  • Research and Professional Experience: Beginning with the current position list, in chronological order, list professional positions with a brief description. The total number of years employed at the DOE national laboratories should be specified.
  • Publications: Provide a list of up to 5 high-impact publications. Issued patents, copyrights, technical reports, and software systems developed may be substituted for publications. For each publication, identify the names of all authors (in the same sequence in which they appear in the publication), the article title, book or journal title, volume number, page numbers, year of publication, and website address if available electronically. Brief explanation(s) of authorship practice(s) or contributions to the published work by the nominee may be included.
  • Synergistic Activities: List up to 5 professional activities that demonstrate the nominee’s service to the workforce development community through agency, professional society, or advisory work.

As part of the sketch, provide information that can be used by reviewers to evaluate the nominee’s demonstrated excellence and leadership in mentoring of students, educators, faculty, and/or early career researchers or other relevant professional leadership or service experiences (Limit 15,000 characters; about 2,000 words.)

Materials to Omit

Nomination packages should not include information regarding how funds may be used if the nominee is selected for award.  
Nomination packages should not include personally identifiable information (PII) such as date of birth, social security number, etc.

Additional Considerations and Feedback to Nominators

Competitive nomination packages often have the following general qualities:

  • Present a cohesive, compelling case that clearly addresses each of the eligibility criteria and assessment criteria.
  • Provide delineating descriptions of the nominee’s specific contributions, actions, and impacts.
  • Include clear descriptions and laboratory-specific metrics supporting accomplishments underlying the nomination.
  • Statements of impact and significance are supported by evidence and provide contextual information for evaluating how the nominee compares to peers in their field(s), when appropriate.
  • Include high-level summary statements of accomplishments relevant and consistent with the field and professional expectations of the nominee.
  • Letter of support authors include individuals familiar with the impacts of the nominee’s mentoring roles.

Nomination Deadline

WDTS welcomes nominations from the 17 DOE National Laboratories for the 2026 DOE Distinguished Mentors for Workforce Development Award. All the nomination packages from a laboratory must be submitted via the WDTS Laboratory Education Director (LED) of that laboratory no later than Wednesday, September 16, 2026, 5:00 PM Eastern Time.