Rasul Medal Secretariat Shortlisted Award Nominees
The secretariat narrowed an initial pool of over 100,000 scientists to 24 finalists ahead of the 2026 award ceremony.
Updated on Sept. 30, 2026 in Science — General
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The Rasul Medal secretariat has finalized a 24-person shortlist of nominees selected from an initial candidate pool of more than 100,000 scientists under the age of 40 in the Islamic world. This selection process concludes a review phase that began following an open call for nominations issued in December 2025.
Why it matters
The foundation aims to recognize high-impact research to encourage regional scientific cooperation and increase public visibility for early-career scientists. This initiative identifies emerging technical talent across seven distinct scientific fields.
The nomination pool spanned seven disciplines, with biological and medical sciences receiving 55,878 submissions compared to 1,965 in mathematics and 14 in nanotechnology. The judging panel determined the final list by reviewing outcomes from previous meetings.
The players
Rasul Medal Secretariat
The administrative body based in Tehran responsible for identifying and vetting early-career scientists for international awards.
The details
The Rasul Medal is restricted to researchers under the age of 40. The secretariat evaluated submissions across seven scientific fields including computer science, physics, and engineering sciences, before narrowing the field to the current shortlist of 24.
Timeline
December 2025: Secretariat issued the initial call for nominations.
January 20, 2026: Deadline for all scientific nomination submissions.
September 30, 2026: Official finalization of the shortlist.
December 2026: Scheduled award ceremony for the final winners.
The Tech Race
The Rasul Medal serves as a competitive mechanism for fostering scientific advancement across the Islamic world. It operates in parallel with established regional research funding initiatives that prioritize early-career contributions.
The selection provides a high-level benchmark for scientific research productivity among researchers under age 40. Interested parties should watch for the upcoming ceremony to identify the leading scientific trends emerging from the region.
The takeaway
The secretariat has successfully filtered a massive applicant pool into a manageable shortlist for final evaluation. Observers should track the December 2026 ceremony for the disclosure of the 24 finalists and the final award recipients.
What happens next
The final winners of the award will be announced during the scheduled ceremony in December 2026.
Further reading
For broader trends in research recognition, explore the Science — General archives.
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