Sarwan Sahota Distinguished Scholar Award

• Established TFA members (mid to late career) are eligible to be nominated for this award. Please note that retired members, professors emeriti and adjunct professors are not eligible.
• Faculty who receive this award may not receive the same award again.
• Award recipients shall present to the university community a seminar in which they discuss the scholarly, research or creative work for which they are receiving the award.

Candidates are nominated by two colleagues, a ‘Nominator’ and a ‘Seconder’. The Nominator is required to supply the information and documents as outlined below under Nomination Process and Nomination Package. A Seconder for each nomination is required and may assist the Nominator in preparing the nomination package. 

Please note:

• Either the Nominator or the Seconder must be external to the nominee’s home department or school.
• There is no option at any point in the nomination and review process to change the nominee’s award category.

Distinguished achievement will be adjudicated by the following criteria:

SRC activity resulting in significant external recognition* and/or substantial societal impact either of which has had significant outcomes and/or has changed the nominee’s field/discipline:

• A notable, significant, cumulative contribution; or
• A particularly insightful or formative body of work (which may include  discovery, application, interpretation, or creative or artistic work).

*Recognition by professional societies and/or other national or international distinguished scholarly, research or creative awards (e.g., Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada, Molson Prize, etc.).

Contributions to the training and research careers of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research scientists and technical staff are foundational to TMU’s SRC activities. The nominee’s contributions to training, taking into account the standards of the field, will be considered in the adjudication process.

1. Obtain the nominee’s consent to be nominated.
2. Complete the nomination package as described below.
3. Submit the nomination package via the Online Nomination Portal on the Recognition website.
4. The nominee will receive a confirmation email with a link to provide online consent. This step must be completed before the submission deadline.
5. Nominations submitted past the deadline (including the nominee’s consent) will not be accepted by the Review Committee.

The nomination package must include:

• Citation (100 word maximum) highlighting in brief how the nominee meets the criteria for this award, including any notable achievements. This text will be used in the creation of related university communication should the nominee be selected.
• Supporting Statement (three page maximum) that explicitly describes how the nominee meets the award criteria.
• Summary (two page maximum) of the nominee’s overall SRC excellence and strengths. Please also include a brief note about norms for the field as these can vary across disciplines.
• The supporting statement and summary should be written in language that can be understood by non-experts.
• The nominator has the option to provide up to a maximum of five supporting materials including, if appropriate, external appraisals of the nominee’s work and/or up to two significant publications. A publication is defined as a full-length article or book chapter (no page limit), either of which counts as one document. Non-publication supporting materials may not exceed ten pages in total.
• Nominees will be prompted by email to submit their CV after the initial nomination submission. Nominees will be asked to provide an updated abbreviated CV in CCV or OCGS format, highlighting in yellow the relevant key contributions related to the nomination. The service component may be removed from the abbreviated CV.

The award recipient(s) shall be recommended to the VPRI by the OVPRI Prizes and Awards Committee. Nominees are excluded from membership on this committee. Members of the Committee who are acting as a nominator must recuse themselves from all discussion related to the selection process for this award. The Committee may recommend not to present an award in a particular academic year.

Nomination deadline: November 4, 2025 at noon
Recipient notified by: December 17, 2025
Award presentations: Celebration of Excellence; Toronto Met Awards Gala