Call for Nominations: 2026 Graduate Mentoring Awards

As a campus community, we recognize the transformative impact that mentors can have on graduate students’ experiences at Berkeley, their well-being, and their academic success. To recognize both our faculty and our graduate students who provide important mentorship, the Graduate Division and the Graduate Assembly sponsor three awards that recognize outstanding mentoring of graduate students by faculty members, as well as one award to recognize the outstanding peer mentorship of current graduate and professional students. 

Nominations for all four awards are being accepted through Tuesday, February 17, 2026. Award recipients will be recognized in April 2026 in a joint celebration. 

The Graduate Division is accepting nominations for the Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards that honor early-career and late-career faculty members who exemplify UC Berkeley’s best practices for graduate mentoring.

The awards — $2,500 each — are funded by a generous donation from the estate of Carol D. Soc, a longtime Graduate Division staff member.

The nomination and selection procedures are explained here:

• Nomination Criteria and Guidelines
• About the Selection Process

How to nominate: Nominators should submit their intent to nominate. They will then be invited to a Box folder to submit a formal nomination. Nomination letters must be received electronically by Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 11:59 p.m.

The Graduate Council’s Advisory Committee for GSI Affairs and the Graduate Division’s GSI Teaching & Resource Center invite nominations for the 2026 Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs. This award recognizes faculty (including both Senate and non-Senate faculty) who have provided GSIs outstanding mentorship in teaching at Berkeley and in preparing for teaching in future careers. Each recipient will receive an  award of $1,000. 

How to nominate: Nominations are sought directly from current and former GSIs. Nomination criteria and procedures can be found on the GSI Teaching & Resource Center website. The deadline for nominations is Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 11:59 p.m.

Faculty Mentor Award

The UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly Faculty Mentor Award honors members of the Berkeley faculty and teaching staff who have shown an outstanding commitment to mentoring, advising, and supporting graduate students. The Graduate Assembly presents three awards of $500 each to selected mentors every year.

The primary nominator must be a current graduate student or recent graduate (graduated no earlier than May 2025) who has directly benefited from the candidate’s mentoring and/or advising. Associate nominators can include undergraduates and postdocs, and nomination letters may be jointly written. 

How to nominate: Each nominator must submit their letter of nomination by Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 11:59 p.m.

The UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly’s Graduate Student Peer Mentor Award honors Berkeley graduate and professional students who have shown an outstanding commitment to mentoring, advising, and generally supporting undergraduate students and/or their fellow graduate students. The Graduate Assembly will present four awards of $1,000 each to selected graduate peer mentors each year. Although only one nomination letter is required for a mentor to be considered for the award, we encourage nominators to reach out to others to provide supplemental letters of nomination.

How to nominate: The primary nominator must be a current graduate student or recent graduate (graduated no earlier than May 2025). Associate nominators may include postdocs, faculty, staff, or consist of jointly written letters. All nominators must submit their nomination by Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Outstanding Graduate Peer Mentor Award Nomination Form

Thank you in advance for taking the time to nominate a colleague or peer who deserves this special recognition.

Warmly,

Richard K. Lyons

Chancellor 

Benjamin E. Hermalin

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

Victoria C. Plaut

Vice Provost for the Faculty

 Lisa García Bedolla

Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate Division

Sandra Oseguera Sotomayor

Graduate Assembly President