On November 8, 2023, UCLA’s postdoctoral scholars and their mentors will be honored for their important contributions to the university’s interrelated missions of research, teaching, and service at the annual Postdoctoral Scholars & Mentors Awards Ceremony.

The Chancellor’s Awards for Postdoctoral Research which recognizes individual research accomplishments that show clear potential to have meaningful and enduring implications in their field will be presented at the event along with the Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentoring Awards that are administered by the Postdoctoral Association at UCLA.  The Mentoring Awards honor UCLA faculty members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping postdoctoral scholars develop successful careers.

2023 Event Program

If you are unable to attend, you can watch the recording of the awards ceremony here

2023 Chancellor’s Award for Postdoctoral Research

Eight of the 38 nominees were selected to receive the Chancellor’s Award for Postdoctoral Research — a $7,500 prize and a plaque — for their research accomplishments that show clear potential to have meaningful and enduring implications in their field.

Award Recipients:

• Nir Pillar, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Kendra Cahoun, Anthropology
• Daniel Moriarity, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
• Lejla Medzikovic, Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
• Yijie Wang, Cardiology
• Rudy Mondragon, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
• Srivatsav Kunnawalkam Elayavalli, Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics
• Yuntao Liu, California NanoSystems Institute

Nominees:

• Pranav Agrawal, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Justine Bailleul, Radiation Oncology
• Kendra Calhoun, Anthropology
• Douglas J. Chapski, Anesthesiology And Perioperative Medicine
• Tonoy Das, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Abhisek Datta, Physics and Astronomy
• Xinzhou Ge, Statistics and Data Science
• Daniel Gray, Physiology
• Charu Gupta, Management
• Daniel Sung Min Ha, Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences
• Eleanor Hayes-Larson, Epidemiology
• Roni Hazim, Ophthalmology
• Kelsey Jorgensen, Anthropology
• Pedram Keshavarz, Radiological Sciences
• Srivatsav Kunnawalkam Elayavalli, Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics
• Cynthia Kusters, Epidemiology
• Charlie Yan-Ruide Li, Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics
• Baocheng Liu, Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Xiaoyu Liu, Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics
• Yun-Tao Liu, California Nanosystems Institute
• Patricia Marcos, History
• Lejla Medzikovic, Anesthesiology And Perioperative Medicine
• Rudy Mondragon, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
• Daniel Moriarity, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
• Monte Neate-Clegg, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Elisa Negrini, Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics
• Harry Pickering, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
• Nir Pillar, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Gang Qiu, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Fernando Reis, Psychology
• Bernalyn Ruiz-Yu, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
• Chandani Sen, Pediatrics
• Scott Smart, Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Chengzhang Wan, Materials Science and Engineering
• Zhong Wan, Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Yijie Wang, Cardiology
• Taylor Webb, Psychology
• Xu Xiao, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

2023 Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentoring Award

We also honored UCLA faculty members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping postdoctoral scholars develop successful careers.

Award Recipients:

• Elizabeth Rose Mayeda, Epidemiology
• Paul Boutros, Human Genetics and Urologic Oncology

Nominees:

• Paul Boutros, Human Genetics and Urologic Oncology
• Laura Denard, Physiology
• Juli Feigon, Biochemistry
• Elisa Franco, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Brigitte Gomperts, Pediatrics
• Melody Li, Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics
• Shaily Mahendra, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Elizabeth Rose Mayeda, Epidemiology
• Sanjay Mohanty, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Gary Orfield, Education
• Nicole Petersen, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
• Maureen Su, Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics
• Erina Vlashi, Radiation Oncology
• Kate Wassum, Psychology
• Cun-Yu Wang, Oral and Systemic Health Sciences
• Xia Yang, Integrative Biology and Physiology
• Z. Hong Zhou, Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics

Past Award Recipients

Past Chancellor’s Award for Postdoctoral Research recipients

Past Postdoctoral Mentoring Award recipients

Photo Gallery

2023 Photo Gallery

Video Gallery

Watch a video of the 2023 Chancellor’s Awards for Postdoctoral Research awards ceremony.

Watch a video of the 2022 Chancellor’s Awards for Postdoctoral Research awards ceremony.