ISSBD presents its biennial awards to recognize the outstanding contributions of Society members. These awards honor individuals for their significant impact in the field and their dedication to advancing the Society’s mission. The awards are as follows (for previous winners, visit this page):
1. The ISSBD Young Scientist Award. The ISSBD Young Scientist Award recognizes a young scientist who has made a distinguished theoretical contribution to the study of Behavioral Development, has conducted programmatic research of distinction, or has made a distinguished contribution to the dissemination of developmental science. The award is for continued efforts rather than a single outstanding work. Scientists who are within seven years of completion of the doctoral degree are eligible.
2. The ISSBD Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award honors a single individual who has made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research, student training, and other scholarly endeavors in Behavioral Development. Evaluations are based on the scientific merit of the individual’s work and the significance of this work for generating new empirical or theoretical areas in the study of Behavioral Development.
3. The ISSBD Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Behavioral Development Theory and Research honors researchers who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical advances in Behavioral Development leading to the understanding or amelioration of important practical problems. The award is for an individual whose work has contributed not only to the science of Behavioral Development but also to the application of science to society. The individual’s contributions may have been made through advocacy, direct service, influencing public policy or education, or through any other routes that enable the science of Behavioral Development to improve the welfare of children and/or adults and/or families.
4. The ISSBD Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Research and Theory in Behavioral Development honors distinguished and enduring lifetime contributions to international cooperation and advancement of knowledge.
5. The ISSBD Award of Lifetime Membership is in recognition of services to ISSBD and the field of lifespan developmental science. The criteria for awarding a Lifetime Membership Award are as follows:
a. The recipient has been an ISSBD member for a long period of time, normally at least 30 years, and will normally be retired.
b. Evidence of substantive contributions to ISSBD over time — e.g., membership of committees; presentation of keynote addresses at biennial meetings; attendance at Biennial Meetings; publication of papers in IJBD.
c. Evidence of significant contributions to developmental science — recognition within the field through prestigious appointments and/or honors; publication record and citations.
Nominations must include a letter of nomination; a current curriculum vitae (CV); up to five representative reprints; and the names, addresses, and email addresses of three scientists familiar with the nominee’s research and theoretical writings.
For the last four (‘senior’) awards, nominators should additionally include in the letter of nomination a statement addressing the following questions:
• What are the general themes of the nominee’s research program?
• What important research findings are attributed to the nominee?
• To what extent have the nominee’s theoretical contributions generated research in the field?
• What has been the significant and enduring influence of the nominee’s research?
• What influence has the nominee had on students and others in the same field of study? If possible, please identify the nominee’s former (and current, if relevant) graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
Eligibility
Members of the Awards Committee are excluded as possible nominees. The President and President-Elect of ISSBD are ineligible for nomination. Previous award winners in one category can be nominated for an award in another category.
Procedure and Time Schedule
The deadline for nominations for the 2026 awards is December 31, 2025. Nominations should be sent to the chair of the committee at m.a.g.vanaken@uu.nl. The award winners will be invited to attend the Biennial Meeting in Incheon, South Korea (June 21–25, 2026), where the awards will be presented.
Awards committee
The solicitation of the nominations, the review of the submissions, and the selection of the awardees are overseen by the Awards and Fellows Committee:
Chair:
Marcel van Aken, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Members:
Gail Ferguson, University of Minnesota, USA
Linda Theron, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Shanu Shukla, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Meingold Chan, Purdue University, USA
Angelo Brandelli Costa, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil