Explore both current and past journal lectureships and awards from ACS Publications' Biological and Medicinal Chemistry portfolios.
Updated October 2025
Nominations for some 2026 awards are now open; others coming soon. Read on to learn more about each award and how to submit a nomination—and check back for newly opened opportunities.
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—and submit your nominations for 2026!
ACS Infectious Diseases Early Career Award
Nomination Status: Open
Deadline: December 1, 2025
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
Deadline: December 1, 2025
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.
Philip S. Portoghese Early Career Award for the Advancement of Medicinal Chemistry
Nomination Status: Open
Deadline: December 1, 2025
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 Catalysis Lectureship for the Advancement of Catalytic Science
Nomination Status: Open
Deadline: December 31, 2025
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.
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.
Molecular Pharmaceutics Early Career Best Paper Award
Nomination Status: Closed
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.
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.
Biochemistry Gordon Hammes Lectureship Award
Nomination Status: Closed
This award, sponsored by Biochemistry and the ACS Division of Biochemistry and Chemical Biology, recognizes and honors an individual whose scientific contributions have had a major impact on research across all biological chemistry.
Biochemistry Gordon Hammes Scholar Award
Nomination Status: Closed
This award, sponsored by Biochemistry and the ACS Division of Biochemistry and Chemical Biology, honors early career scientists responsible for exceptional research published in Biochemistry.
Chemical Research in Toxicology Early Career Investigator Award
Nomination Status: Closed
This award, sponsored by Chemical Research in Toxicology and the ACS Division of Chemical Toxicology, honors the contributions of an early-career individual who has had a major impact on research in chemical toxicology or a related field.
