Awards
The SOM Foundation currently offers the following awards each year: Research Prize, European Research Prize, Structural Engineering Fellowship, China Fellowship, Robert L. Wesley Award, and Researcher-in-Residence.
Call for Applications
Research Prize Applications Open in September 2025
European Research Prize Applications Open in September 2025
Robert L. Wesley Award Applications Open in September 2025
2024–2025 Topic
Advancing Toward a Water-Secure Future
Lake Verret, Louisiana, 2017. © Virginia Hanusik.
Research Prize
2018–Present
In 2018, the SOM Foundation introduced the Research Prize to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time. Each year, two $30,000 prizes are awarded to faculty-led interdisciplinary teams based in the United States to conduct original research that contributes to the SOM Foundation’s current topic.
European Research Prize
2021–Present
In 2021, the SOM Foundation introduced the European Research Prize as an expansion of the US-based Research Prize to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time. The €20,000 European Research Prize is awarded annually to a faculty-led interdisciplinary team based in Europe to conduct original research that contributes to the SOM Foundation’s current topic.
Structural Engineering Fellowship
1998–Present
The $20,000 Structural Engineering Fellowship is awarded annually to a student currently enrolled in a master’s or PhD program or in the final year of their bachelor’s program based in the United States who specializes in structural engineering to conduct independent travel and research that contributes to the SOM Foundation’s current topic. The Structural Engineering Fellowship was created in 1998 to support research that has the potential to influence the practice and teaching of how structures can positively impact our built environment.
China Fellowship
2006–Present
The $5,000 China Fellowship is awarded annually to three students in the last two years of either an undergraduate or graduate program in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, or urban design in the People’s Republic of China to conduct independent travel and research that contributes to the SOM Foundation’s current topic. The China Fellowship was created in 2006 to support emerging design leaders to broaden their education and contribute to their future professional and academic careers.
Robert L. Wesley Award
2020–Present
In 2020, the SOM Foundation created the Robert L. Wesley Award—named in honor of the first Black partner at SOM—to support BIPOC undergraduate students enrolled in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, or engineering programs in the United States. Each year, three students will receive a $10,000 award in addition to a yearlong mentorship program that connects the students with leading BIPOC practitioners and educators. The awards are unrestricted in their use to best support the needs of students. Students are also supported by Black Spectacles as they work toward becoming licensed architects.
Researcher-in-Residence
2024–Present
In 2024, the MAK Center for Art and Architecture and the SOM Foundation initiated Researcher-in-Residence, a joint residency program based in Los Angeles, to provide space and time for rigorous work that addresses pressing issues related to the built environment. Each year, a $5,000 fellowship and four to eight-week summer residency are awarded to an architect, artist, and/or researcher based in the United States to conduct original research that contributes to the current topic.