NOSTER & Science Microbiome Prize (2025)

About the Prize

No one walks alone. Every human is enveloped by and contains trillions of microorganisms. The past decade’s research has revealed the essential nature of the relationships with these other organisms for healthy development and adult life. Research on the microbiome has blossomed thanks to technological advances in genomics and bioinformatics. Already, many surprising discoveries have been made about the fundamental role the microbiota play in inflammation, cancer, obesity and many other chronic non-communicable diseases that assail humans. The groundwork has been laid for a shift of gear from mapping microbial associations with health and disease states to working out the mechanistic details and the dynamics of the interactions between hosts and their microbiota. This growing field promises to translate fundamental discoveries and help answer questions about healthy human development, metabolism, and immunity.

About Science/AAAS

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement and more.

About NOSTER

Noster was incorporated on May 15, 2020, in Kyoto, Japan, specializing in the research and development of gut microbiome–based treatments with the vision of “connecting life and gut microbiome.” The company’s mission is to elucidate the functions of over 1,000 species of human gut microorganisms—numbering over 100 trillion—that exist symbiotically with humans, and to contribute to scientific advances in microbiotics to improve the health of people worldwide. Recent research shows that immune and digestive diseases as well as certain cancers are linked to the gut microbiome, making it an obvious target for the development of new biotherapy treatments based on manipulating the abundance and biology of gut microorganisms. To solidify its future, Noster is exploiting its deep understanding of the gut microbiome by building a unique library of intestinal microbes and their metabolites, referred to as “postbiotics.” Using this library, company scientists are working passionately to realize breakthroughs in drug discovery and to develop innovative therapeutic treatments targeting the gut microbiome. To learn more about NOSTER, click here.

Questions/Inquiries:

NosterSciencePrize@aaas.org 

Submission

The Prize will be judged on the basis of 1,000-word essay and supporting documents. The essay should describe the innovative research performed by the applicant that reveals exciting novel functions of the microbiota that has potential to contribute to our understanding of human or veterinary health and disease or to guide therapeutic interventions.

Procedures for Entry

The entrant must submit the following items:

• A completed Entry Form.
• An essay, written by the entrant, which describes his or her research and places it in perspective with respect to current research in the field of microbiome research. The essay must not exceed 1,000 words in length. The applicant must have done or directed all of the work and it must have been performed in the past three years.
• A one-page letter of recommendation from his or her postdoctoral adviser, supervisor, or other senior colleague who is familiar with the entrant's work.
• A Curriculum Vitae that includes the following:
  1. Full citations of papers that the entrant has published on the research described in the essay
  2. Academic and professional awards and honors that the entrant has received; and
  3. Relevant professional experience
• Copies of two of the entrant's papers that are most relevant to the essay.
• The Entry Form and additional submission materials must be submitted electronically through our prize management system here.

Below is a timeline for the prize selection process. You will be contacted only if there are additional materials or information needed.

• January/February/March: Compilation and Review of Submissions
• April/May: Selection of Prize Winner
• July: Announcement of Prize Winner
• September: Award Ceremony in Washington, DC
• Deadline for Entries: February 14, 2025.

Judging Procedures

Editors from Science will be responsible for the initial evaluation of the essays. The top 10 percent of the essays will be forwarded to the judging panel. The judging panel will be composed of prominent international researchers in the field of microbiome research. The essays will be rated in two areas: scientific quality and significance, and clarity and style of the writing.