Behind every advance in science is someone asking how to do it better.
Throughout the academic world, JoVE has seen educators, librarians, and researchers doing just that—finding new ways to teach, share, and make knowledge easier to grasp. Their creativity shapes how the next generation learns and how discoveries move forward.
Now, the JoVE Innovation Awards return with a renewed vision to recognize these efforts. The relaunch highlights those leaders whose practical ideas are strengthening how STEM is taught, communicated, and developed across universities and organizations worldwide. Each entry reflects a belief that progress depends on sharing practical ideas in ways that others can learn from and build upon.
The Spirit of the Awards
Real innovation in science and education comes from people improving the ways we teach, investigate, and exchange knowledge. The JoVE Innovation Awards recognize those who turn that commitment into meaningful change:
- 🌟 Educators make learning active and relevant.
- 🌟 Researchers make methods transparent and reproducible.
- 🌟 Librarians guide discovery across research and learning.
- 🌟 Ambassadors build communities of practice that link entire institutions.
To see this in action, watch previous winners share their stories below: educators using flipped classrooms, librarians creating new learning spaces, and researchers whose JoVE video articles help peers replicate experiments with confidence.
These stories show that science is not only about discovery, but also communication: making knowledge clear, credible, and ready for others to apply.
Recognizing Creative Progress
Teaching and research are changing fast as digital tools, data, and new expectations reshape how people learn and investigate. Those who move forward are the ones finding creative ways to make learning effective and science reliable.
Through years of collaboration with universities, libraries, and laboratories worldwide, JoVE has seen that innovation often begins with small, practical changes: a new way of training a lab team, a video-based guide that helps students visualize techniques, or a course structure that creates space for active learning. These awards were created to learn from these examples, not just to honor them, and to share approaches that others can adapt.
Across disciplines, people are refining how knowledge is taught and applied, turning everyday challenges into opportunities for advancement. These awards recognize that progress in STEM depends on collaboration, transparency, and the drive to make knowledge clearer and more connected to real practice.
Award Categories and Prompts
Four award categories highlight different ways innovation is shaping the academic world:
🎖️ Educator Innovation Award 🎖️
For faculty using blended learning to create flexible, engaging, and effective teaching experiences
Tell us how you use blended learning to:
- 💡Maximize classroom interaction and lab time, or
- 💡 Support different styles and speeds of learning, or
- 💡 Make complex concepts visual and understandable, or
- 💡 Connect theory to real-world practice
🎖️ Librarian Innovation Award 🎖️
For librarians who integrate video to support deeper STEM learning, discovery, and professional growth among students, researchers, and faculty
Tell us how you:
- 💡Use JoVE in orientations, workshops, or online guides, or
- 💡 Support reproducibility, modern teaching, or innovative research practices, or
- 💡 Strengthen career exploration, belonging, and campus-wide alignment
🎖️ Researcher Innovation Award 🎖️
For scientists who published methods in JoVE and expanded their reach, visibility, and adoption across disciplines
Tell us how you:
- 💡Published new research in JoVE and why it matters, and
- 💡 Used video to improve clarity, citations, or adoption across labs, and
- 💡 Leveraged JoVE to collaborate, train others, or share work internationally
🎖️ Ambassador Innovation Award 🎖️
For faculty, researchers, or librarians who championed JoVE at scale, turning it into a resource that supports entire institutions or networks through strategic leadership
Tell us:
- 💡How you launched and grew adoption in your department or institution, or
- 💡 Which partnerships, champions, or processes made it work, and
- 💡 How you measure success—engagement, outcomes, or campus-wide alignment
How to Apply and Be Recognized
Open to faculty, librarians, and researchers worldwide, submissions may be individual or team-led. Each entry should include a short written narrative (up to 1,000 words) responding to one of the prompts above, with optional supporting materials such as playlists, modules, or short videos.
Prizes:
All winners (1 per category) will receive:
- 🔶 $2,000 prize
- 🔶 Certificate and digital badge
- 🔶 Spotlight through JoVE Blog features and co-hosted webinars
- 🔶 Post-award opportunities through JoVE’s global communications
Additional category-specific benefits:
- 🎓Educator Award: Free access to all JoVE resources for 6 months
- 🔬Researcher Award: Waiver of publication fees for a JoVE article
- 📚 Librarian Award: Institutional access to all JoVE resources for 3 months
Timeline:
- 📆8 October – 21 November: Submission window open
- 📆 Mid-December: Finalists selected
- 📆 Mid-January 2026: Winners announced
Innovation That Connects Us
The Innovation Awards are more than recognition. They reflect a belief that collaboration and visibility drive progress. Every entry, whether selected or not, contributes to a growing global community of practice where educators, researchers, and librarians learn from one another’s approaches.
By sharing these stories, practical ideas reach further and continue to evolve through the people who apply them. The innovators behind them remind us that progress in STEM depends on people who keep learning, improving, and helping others do the same.