Early Career Award in Biophysics and Early Career Presentation Award
Outline of the awards
Since 2005, Biophysical Society of Japan (BSJ) has granted "Early Career Award in Biophysics" to young BSJ members for the excellent presentations that show their great potential to contribute to the progress of biophysics. In 2016, the society further established "Early Career Presentation Awards" to promote the activity of young researchers. In the first screening of these awards, candidates will be selected based on the submitted documents. In the second screening, the candidates are invited to give oral presentations at the Early Career Award in Biophysics Candidate Presentation Symposium. Up to five awardees of the Early Career Award in Biophysics will be selected from the invited speakers. Basically, the rest of the invited speakers will be given the Early Career Presentation Award. We invite graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and young investigators to apply for the awards.
In 2026, we will invite nominations for the Early Career Award in Biophysics and the Early Career Presentation Awards. The ICBBS2026 will be held as ICBBS2026 in Busan, South Korea. During the meeting, the “Young Investigator Invited Symposium” will be held and the selection process will be conducted as usual. Furthermore, one outstanding presenter who advances to the second round of selection will receive the 'IUPAB Award' from the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB). The recipient will receive a cash prize of 200 euros. Additionally, up to three students demonstrating exceptional excellence among those who applied for the 'Early Career Award in Biophysics and Early Career Presentation Awards' will be awarded the 'IUPAB Student Award', with each recipient receiving a cash prize of 100 euros.
Also this year, the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB) will present the "IUPAB award" and "IUPAB student award" this year. The "IUPAB award" will be presented to one of the best presenters in the oral presentations at the Early Career Award in Biophysics Candidate Presentation Symposium and €200 will be awarded to the winner. The "IUPAB student award" will be given to up to three of the best student presenters who applied for the "Early Career Award/Early Career Presentation Awards in Biophysics" and €100 will be awarded to each of the winners. We invite graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and young investigators to apply for the awards.In celebration of the successful hosting of IUPAB2024 in Kyoto, one outstanding presenter will receive the IUPAB Nara Award, along with a prize of €150, in addition to the IUPAB Award at this annual meeting.
List of past awardees
Requirements for application
-Members of BSJ (including those in the process of membership application) who will give presentations at IUPAB2024 and who meet the following requirements are eligible to apply.
(1) Each applicant must be 35 years old or younger, or must be within 8 years after obtaining the doctoral degree as of the date 2025/4/1. If an applicant has experienced life events such as childbirth or nursing care, he/she must be 37 years old or younger, or must be within 10 years after obtaining the degree as of the date 2026/4/1.
(2) Each applicant must be the first and presenting author of the presentation.
(3) An applicant, who won the Early Career Award in Biophysics or the Early Career Presentation Award in the past annual meetings, is still eligible to apply for the awards, if he/she has already published a research or review article on the topics related to the content of the awarded presentation in "Biophysics and Physicobiology" by the application deadline, and if he/she is going to present new research results distinct from the past presentation.
The invited speakers of the Early Career Award in Biophysics Candidate Presentation Symposium are requested to present the research they registered in the ICBBS2026.
The awardees of the Early Career Award in Biophysics and the Early Career Presentation Award are required to submit a research or review article on the topics related to the awards to " Biophysics and Physicobiology " within two years.
Student members and Associate members can apply for both of Early Career Award in Biophysics and Student Presentation Award .
Committee members of the Biophysical Society of Japan, who are eligible for the Early Career Award in Biophysics will not participate in the selection process of award winners by the committee.
For the 2026 academic year only, student members (including associate members) and early-career researchers within five years of obtaining their degree are eligible to apply for both the ‘Early Career Award / Early Career Invited Lecture Award’ and the ‘ICBBS2026 Student and Early Career Researcher Poster Award.
Application period and procedure
First, applicants should download the application format below, fill out all the required information in the form, and convert it to the PDF format. Second, applicants should register for the ICBBS2026, submit an abstract of the presentation, After converting the documents to PDF, please attach the file to an email and send it to the Society Secretariat (
).Only one application per one member is allowed.
The application period for this year's award competition is the same as that of the presentations for the ICBBS2026.（31st,May 2026） For ICBBS2026, there will be no extension of the application period for the Early Career Award if the deadline for abstract submission is extended.
If student members (including associate members) and early-career researchers within five years of obtaining their degree wish to apply for both the ‘Early Career Award’ and the ‘ICBBS2026 Student and Early Career Researcher Poster Award,’ please clearly indicate in item 2d of the application documents below that you are also applying for the ‘ICBBS2026 Student and Early Career Researcher Poster Award.’ In addition, be sure to complete the application procedure for the ICBBS2026 Student and Early Career Researcher Poster Award.
The BSJ office will send each applicant a receipt of application by Email. If an applicant does not receive the notice after one week of the closure of the application period, please contact the BSJ office ().
Application form
| ［Word］ | ［PDF］ |
Research fields
1. Structure and Function of Proteins 2. Properties of Proteins 3. Nucleic acid 4. Cell biology 5. Photobiology 6. Muscle 7. Molecular Motor 8. Biomembranes & Artificial Membranes 9. Bioinfomatics 10. Imaging & Methodology 11. Brain & Neuroscience 12. Others
Screening processes
The first screening will be carried out on the basis of the submitted application forms. Approximately ten candidates will be selected at this stage, and will be invited as the speakers of Early Career Award in Biophysics Candidate Presentation Symposium to be held on the first day of ICBBS2026. The result of the first screening will be released on the ICBBS2026 website and will be informed to each candidate.
In the second screening, the ten invited speakers will give oral presentations at this symposium. Up to five awardees of the Early Career Award in Biophysics will be selected based on their presentations. The rest of the invited speakers will be given the Early Career Presentation Award.
The first and second screenings will be carried out by the respective selection committees for Early Career Award in Biophysics . The members of the selection committees will be chosen from the BSJ society members.
Awards ceremony
The result of the second screening will be released at the meeting banquet on the second day of the ICBBS2026 followed by the ceremony for the Early Career Award in Biophysics. All the ten invited speakers of the Early Career Award in Biophysics Candidate Presentation Symposium will be invited to the banquet. The banquette fee will be returned to the invited speakers. The award certificates and plaques will be presented to the winners. The winners' names and subjects of their presentations will be published later on the website of BSJ.
