The 2027 awards cycle is underway! Explore both current and past journal lectureships and awards from ACS Publications' Biological and Medicinal Chemistry portfolios.

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Update October 2026:
The 2027 awards cycle is underway! New nominations for select 2027 awards are now open.

ACS Publications' journal lectureships and awards recognize a mix of early career and established investigators who have made significant contributions to research in their fields.

We invite you to explore current and past awards in Biological and Medicinal Chemistry.

Browse by Award:
ACS Infectious Diseases Early Career Award (now open)
ACS Synthetic Biology Early Career Innovator Award (now open)
Molecular Pharmaceutics Early Career Best Paper Award (now open)
Philip S. Portoghese Early Career Award for the Advancement of Medicinal Chemistry (now open)
ACS Chemical Biology Early Career Award
Bioconjugate Chemistry Early Career Award
Chemical Research in Toxicology Early Career Investigator Award
Biochemistry Gordon Hammes Lectureship Award
Biochemistry Gordon Hammes Scholar Award

ACS Infectious Diseases Early Career Award

Nomination Status: Open
Nomination Deadline: December 1, 2026

Sponsored by ACS Infectious Diseases and the ACS Division of Biochemistry and Chemical Biology, these awards recognize three outstanding early-career investigators in the field of infectious diseases.

ACS Synthetic Biology Early Career Innovator Award

Nomination Status: Open
Nomination Deadline: December 1, 2026

Sponsored by ACS Synthetic Biology and The American Institute of Chemical Engineers, this award honors the contributions of an early-career scientist who has made a major impact on synthetic biology and/or related fields.

Molecular Pharmaceutics Early Career Best Paper Award

Nomination Status: Open
Nomination Deadline: December 31, 2026

Sponsored by Molecular Pharmaceutics, this award is presented to three early-career scientists, one each from three major geographic regions: the Americas, Europe/the Middle East/Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Philip S. Portoghese Early Career Award for the Advancement of Medicinal Chemistry

Nomination Status: Open
Nomination Deadline: December 1, 2026

Sponsored by ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry, this award is named for Philip S. Portoghese, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry from 1972 to 2011. Each year, this award honors the contributions of an individual who has had a major impact on medicinal chemistry research.

ACS Chemical Biology Early Career Award

Nomination Status: Closed

This award honors the contributions of an early-career individual who is doing outstanding work in chemical biology.

Bioconjugate Chemistry Early Career Award

Nomination Status: Closed

This award recognizes the contributions of one person who has made a major impact working at the interface of the synthetic and biological worlds.

Chemical Research in Toxicology Early Career Investigator Award

Nomination Status: Discontinued

This award is no longer offered. Information on past recipients is provided below.

Biochemistry Gordon Hammes Lectureship Award

Nomination Status: Discontinued

This award is no longer offered. Information on past recipients is provided below.

Biochemistry Gordon Hammes Scholar Award

Nomination Status: Discontinued

This award is no longer offered. Information on past recipients is provided below.

ACS Catalysis Lectureship for the Advancement of Catalytic Science

Nomination Status: Closed

This annual award honors an individual or a collaborative team for recent and significant contributions to the field, which appeared as a publication in ACS Catalysis within the last three calendar years (2023, 2024 or 2025). In 2026, one lectureship award will be given in each of the three areas of catalysis covered by ACS Catalysis: biocatalysis or enzymology; heterogeneous catalysis; homogeneous catalysis.

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