IFA Science Awards
Every year, IFA invites individual scientists to apply for two awards that recognize excellence in plant nutrition science, innovation and extension for sustainable development.
The two award categories are:
- The IFA Norman Borlaug Plant Nutrition Award, which recognizes a large portfolio of research achievements, demonstrating that the individual candidate has made significant contributions to knowledge as well as concrete solutions.
- The IFA Emerging Scholar Award, which recognizes an individual’s portfolio of research that suggests the candidate will make significant contributions in the future.
The judges for each award will consider the nominations in the context of the “New Paradigm for Plant Nutrition” as developed by the Scientific Panel on Responsible Plant Nutrition.
The application deadline is usually mid-September.
IFA Norman Borlaug Plant Nutrition Award Winner: Keith Shepherd
2025 IFA Emerging Scholar Award Joint Winner: Dr. Gonzalo Rizzo
IFA Science Awards Past Winners.
All winners of the IFA Norman Borlaug Award are eligible to sit on the panel of recipients.
The panel has been established to recommend ways to make the Award an ever more effective tool for promoting ongoing research to improve efficient and environmentally friendly plant nutrition.
Dr. Xia Emma Lian
Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia
Dr. Andrew Sharpley
Distinguished Professor of Soils and Water quality for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Heitor Cantarella
Director of the Soil and Environmental Resources Center of the Agronomic Institute of Campinas in Brazil
Tekalign Mamo
Distinguished soil scientist and former Ethiopian State Minister of Agriculture
Michael McLaughlin
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia
Greta Gabinete
Research and Development Center, West Visayas State University, Philippines
Fusuo Zhang
College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, China
Graeme Blair
School of Rural Science and Natural Resources, University of New England, Australia
