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About
Awards
Fellows
Events
News
Contact
Support
Research Prize
European Research Prize
Structural Engineering Fellowship
China Fellowship
Robert L. Wesley Award
Researcher-in-Residence

SOM Foundation
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Chicago, IL 60604

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Searching for

About
Awards
Fellows
Events
News
Contact
Support
Research Prize
European Research Prize
Structural Engineering Fellowship
China Fellowship
Robert L. Wesley Award
Researcher-in-Residence

Research Prize

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.

The Research Prize is open to faculty currently teaching at a professionally accredited bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or PhD program in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, or engineering in the United States. The research must be developed in a studio and/or seminar within the academic institution. The lead faculty member(s) will be expected to work in a collaborative manner with faculty from other disciplines, leading professionals, nonprofit organizations, and/or community representatives in addition to students enrolled in the studio and/or seminar. Collaborator(s) can be based worldwide. The winning teams will be required to thoroughly document their research findings and develop conclusions or suggestions for application to professional practice.

Applications Open in September 2025

2024

Somf 2024 research prize frolet maxcy brown mcglohn proposal 01
Somf 2024 research prize frolet maxcy brown mcglohn proposal 02

Imaging Underground: Illustrating Wastewater Challenges and Opportunities to Inform and Empower Alabama’s Black Belt Communities

“Imaging Underground” will produce a Wastewater Design Manual for stakeholders and municipalities in the Black Belt. It will include three components: a history of regional wastewater practices, an explanation of cluster system functions, and suggested tools to give communities control over design decision-making during the economic development driven by new wastewater systems.

Aurélie Frolet
Auburn University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture

Emily McGlohn
Auburn University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture

Jillian Maxcy-Brown
Auburn University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Somf 2024 research prize yang yoos rockcastle altheimer cummings carlson cummings proposal 01
Somf 2024 research prize yang yoos rockcastle altheimer cummings carlson cummings proposal 04

Soft-Urban Riverfront: A New Paradigm for Headwater Metropolises

Pig’s Eye Lake at the Mississippi River in St. Paul, a site of historical pollution with significant Indigenous heritage and ecological importance, will serve as a catalyst project of the “Soft-Urban Riverfront: A New Paradigm for Headwater Metropolises” studio. Through a cross-disciplinary and cross-scalar approach, the studio will work with ecologists, scientists, historians, policymakers, and community stakeholders to create design strategies that enhance biodiversity, public health, and cultural awareness.

Dingliang Yang
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Jennifer Yoos
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Maura Rockcastle
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Ross Altheimer
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Roger Cummings
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Daniel Carlson
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Changó Cummings
University of Minnesota The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design (ALI)

Somf 2023 research prize caine lopez ochoa nino quattro zhai proposal 01

2023

A Taxonomy of Vacancy: Are Underutilized Commercial Strips the Answer to San Antonio’s Housing Shortage?

Ian Caine
Esteban López Ochoa
Rudy Niño, Jr.
Christine Quattro
Wei Zhai

Somf 2023 research prize cuellar yi proposal 04

2023

Block by Block: Advancing New American Dreams and Housing Justice by Aligning Design with Zoning Reform

Gabriel Cuéllar
De Peter Yi

Somf 2022 research prize galvez munenzon proposal 01

2022

Collective Comfort: Framing the Cooling Center as a Resiliency and Educational Hub for Communities in Desert Cities

Liz Gálvez
Dalia Munenzon

Somf 2022 research prize nida rehman proposal 01

2022

Taking Back the Air: Collective Learning, Advocacy, and Design for a Healthy Environment

Nida Rehman

Somf 2021 research prize davis gursoy oghazian ghazvinian west pecchia proposal 01

2021

MycoKnit: Cultivating Mycelium-Based Composites on Knitted Textiles for Large-Scale Biodegradable Architectural Structures

Felecia Davis
Ali Ghazvinian
Benay Gürsoy
Farzaneh Oghazian
John Pecchia
Andre West

Somf 2021 research prize dyson lokko final report 01

2021

Soil Sisters: An Intersectoral Material Design Framework for Soil Health

Anna Dyson
Mae-ling Lokko

Somf 2020 research prize jones allen holliday proposal 01

2020

Reclaiming Black Settlements: A Design Playbook for Historic Communities in the Shadow of Sprawl

Diane Jones Allen
Austin Allen
Kathryn Holliday

Somf 2020 research prize lin molix welty final report 01

2020

Public Space and Scrutiny: Examining Urban Monuments through Social Psychology

Tiffany Lin
Lisa Molix
Emilie Taylor Welty

Somf research prize bonhevi denizen moreno harvard syllabus 2019

2019

The Right to Sewage: Digesting Mexico City in the Mezquital Valley

Montserrat Bonvehi Rosich
Seth Denizen
David Moreno Mateos

Somf 2019 research prize clare lyster summer hofford research image

2019

Hot Farms: How Emails Grow Tomatoes

Clare Lyster

Somf 2019 research prize mun bogosian lee shenzhen biennale

2018

Architectural Standards Guide from a Neurological Perspective

Biayna Bogosian
Kristine Mun

Somf 2018 research prize wayne place final report 01

2018

Natural Light and Health in Urban Environments

Wayne Place
Jianxin Hu
Traci Rider
Mohammad Salamati
Masoome Haghani
Pegah Mathur
Rosa McDonald
Daoru Wang
Mack Carter
Thomas Place

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