Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement 2028: Nomination Status and Preparation Guide
The 2027 Tyler Prize nomination cycle is closed. The official page says the 2028 nomination form and updates are expected in February 2027; review eligibility and prepare before the form opens.
Deadline not clearly published; check the official source before planning around this.
Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement 2028: Nomination Status and Preparation Guide
The 2027 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement nomination cycle is closed. This page is therefore not an active application listing. The official Tyler Prize nominations page says that the 2028 nomination form and nomination updates are expected in February 2027. It does not publish an exact day or a 2028 submission deadline yet.
That status matters if you are preparing a nomination from Africa or elsewhere. There is no live 2027 form to submit through this listing, and the old May deadline should not be used. The useful task now is preparation: understand what the Tyler Prize recognizes, confirm that the proposed nominee fits the published rules, collect the required evidence, and check the official nominations page again when the 2028 form becomes available.
Tyler Prize status at a glance
| Detail | Current information |
|---|---|
| Program | Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement |
| Current listing status | The 2027 nomination cycle is closed |
| Next form | The 2028 nomination form is expected in February 2027 |
| Next updates | 2028 nomination updates are expected in February 2027 |
| 2028 deadline | Not published on the official page |
| Recipient award | $250,000 USD and a commemorative medallion |
| Geographic reach | Individuals and institutions from any part of the world |
| Nomination route | A third party must nominate; self-nominations are not permitted |
| Language | English |
| Nomination retention | Nominations are retained for three years of consideration |
| Official status and form page | Tyler Prize nominations |
The amount is a recipient benefit, not an application grant or a payment made when a nomination is submitted. The official Tyler Prize About page says recipients receive $250,000 USD and a commemorative medallion. The nominations page describes the people and institutions eligible for consideration and the information a nominator should assemble.
What the Tyler Prize recognizes
The Tyler Prize focuses on outstanding environmental contributions with global significance. Its published areas include the protection, maintenance, improvement, or understanding of ecological and environmental conditions; the discovery, development, or improvement of sustainable energy sources; and improvements to planetary health and global solutions.
The prize is broad enough to include scientific work, policy, conservation, energy, public health, and other environmental contributions, but broad does not mean vague. The published criteria ask whether the work is based on strong natural or social science, addresses global inequalities and solutions, demonstrates measurable and scalable effects on policy or practice, and engages younger generations. The nominations page also says that integration of diverse perspectives and promotion of environmental justice may be considered.
A good nomination should make the contribution easy to understand. It should identify the problem, describe what the nominee actually did, explain what changed, and support the explanation with evidence. A list of impressive positions or publications is not enough by itself. The committee needs to see the link between the nominee’s work and meaningful environmental results.
Who may be nominated
The official nominations page says the Tyler Prize is awarded to individuals and institutions from any part of the world working to deliver global impact for the environment. That makes the opportunity relevant to researchers, public-interest leaders, policy experts, conservation practitioners, energy innovators, and institutions whose work has produced documented results.
The worldwide scope can include work connected to Africa, but geography alone is not an eligibility argument. A proposal should explain the environmental contribution and its wider significance. For a project rooted in one country or region, show the evidence of impact and the lesson that can travel: a policy adopted elsewhere, a tested method, a scientific finding used by other institutions, a governance model, or results that change how a wider field acts.
The published rules also set important boundaries:
- Nominations must come from a third party. A potential nominee cannot submit a self-nomination.
- Multiple nominations from one nominator are not permitted.
- Posthumous nominations are not permitted.
- The prize is not awarded for a grassroots organization working only on a local or regional solution.
- The prize is not awarded for organizing a large meeting, summit, or conference.
- An organization or individual whose singular purpose is only to raise awareness of an issue is not eligible under the published exclusions.
These exclusions do not mean local work is unimportant. They mean a nomination must show more than local activity, event organization, or awareness raising. If a local program is the starting point for a broader model, the nomination should document the broader reach, the evidence of results, and the mechanism that made replication possible.
What the nominator must prepare
The official Nominator’s Checklist is the practical starting point for the next form. It asks the nominator to have complete information about both parties before beginning:
Contact information. Gather the full names, addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers of the nominee and the nominator. Confirm spelling and preferred contact details before assembling the document.
A one- to two-page accomplishments summary. This should explain the discovery, improvement, contribution, or other achievement for which the award is proposed. Include links to appropriate websites and works. Write the summary for an informed reader who may not work in the nominee’s specialty.
Three to five possible references. List people who would be ready to provide reference letters if the nomination advances to the shortlist. The checklist asks for a contact name, organization, and email address for each reference. Select people who can describe the nominee’s impact and address the other Tyler Prize criteria with specific examples.
A short CV for an individual nominee. Include links, where available, to publications, reports, and websites that feature the unique contributions for which the nomination is being made.
An institutional evidence set for an organization nominee. The checklist asks for a brochure or datasheet, website links, all relevant data, and additional information supporting the nomination.
One assembled document. All nomination documents must be combined into one Microsoft Word or PDF document. File names must include the nominee’s name and nomination year, such as the examples on the official checklist.
All nominations must be submitted in English. Supporting links can point to technical or multilingual material, but the core nomination should stand on its own in English. A reviewer should not have to reconstruct the case from a collection of disconnected links.
How to use the closed-cycle period well
Because the 2027 cycle is closed, do not try to submit through an old form or present the expired deadline as current. Use this period to build a concise evidence record.
Start with one sentence: “This nominee changed ___ by ___, producing ___.” The first blank identifies the environmental problem or system; the second identifies the distinctive intervention; the third gives the result. If the sentence depends on adjectives such as “transformative” or “world-leading” rather than an observable outcome, keep working.
Next, divide the evidence into four parts that match the published criteria:
- Scientific basis: identify the research, monitoring, method, or analysis behind the work. Explain how its quality was tested or independently used.
- Inequality and solutions: show who faced the environmental burden, who benefited from the work, and how those groups participated in decisions or implementation.
- Measurable and scalable effect: give the strongest available indicators of policy adoption, practice change, environmental improvement, energy progress, health protection, replication, or institutional reach.
- Younger generations: document fellowships, training, mentorship, youth leadership, co-authorship, paid roles, or other meaningful participation. State what younger people were able to do, not merely that they were included.
Keep each claim tied to a source. A policy document can support adoption; a monitoring report can support environmental results; a publication can support the method; an independent evaluation can support outcomes. If a number is an internal estimate, label it clearly and explain how it was calculated. A short, transparent evidence trail is more persuasive than a long collection of praise.
A practical preparation sequence
First, ask the proposed nominator to confirm that they are willing and able to submit a third-party nomination. The nominee may help provide facts and links, but the nomination must come from the eligible third party.
Second, select the central contribution. Do not combine every achievement in a career into one unfocused story. Choose the work that best connects science, environmental results, fairness, policy or practice, and wider relevance.
Third, create a source folder or evidence table with the claim, supporting link, date or measurement period if relevant, and the person who can verify it. This makes later fact-checking faster and exposes gaps before the form opens.
Fourth, contact possible references early enough for them to understand the case. The official checklist says references may be asked for letters if the nomination advances, so choose people who can provide concrete testimony rather than only senior titles.
Finally, check the official nominations page when the 2028 form and updates are released in February 2027. Read the live checklist and instructions again before submitting. The next deadline is not published in the current announcement, so do not infer one from the closed 2027 cycle or from another award.
Frequently asked questions
Can a nominee apply directly?
No. The official page requires a third-party nomination and says self-nominations are not permitted.
Is there an open Tyler Prize form now?
Not for the 2027 cycle. The official page states that 2027 nominations are closed. It says the 2028 form and updates are expected in February 2027; it does not provide an exact opening day or a submission deadline in that announcement.
What is the prize amount?
The official About page says recipients receive $250,000 USD and a commemorative medallion. This is an award for selected recipients, not funding attached to submitting a nomination.
Can an institution be nominated?
Yes. The nominations page says the prize is awarded to individuals and institutions from any part of the world working to deliver global impact for the environment.
How long are nominations considered?
The official nominations page says nominations are retained for three years of consideration. That does not make a closed form reopen; it describes how submitted nominations are retained by the program.
What should an Africa-focused nominator emphasize?
Emphasize the nominee’s documented environmental contribution, the people affected, the evidence of results, and the wider lesson or reach. Do not rely on location alone. The same published standards apply: strong science, attention to inequalities and solutions, measurable and scalable policy or practice impact, and engagement with younger generations.
Official link and current next step
The authoritative page for status, the future form, updates, criteria, exclusions, and the Nominator’s Checklist is the Tyler Prize nominations page. The 2027 cycle is closed. The next practical step is to prepare the evidence and monitor that page for the 2028 form expected in February 2027.