Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A national academy election panel evaluates 30+ years of contribution including foundational early work.
- Is an instance
A 'Pioneer Award' programme funds investigators based on their full prior trajectory rather than a specific project.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Awarding a lifetime-achievement medal based on h-index trajectory of the last 5 years.
- Not an instance
Excluding seminal work from consideration because it is more than 10 years old.
Editorial commentary
Many assessment frameworks (REF, NIH renewal, hiring) explicitly use short time windows (the past 5-10 years) to capture current productivity. By contrast, lifetime contribution assessment is more relevant for selecting fellows of national academies, awarding lifetime achievement prizes, or considering nominations where the question is 'has this researcher made a sustained, important contribution to the field?' The lens combines retrospective qualitative judgement with selective citation of landmark outputs and impacts. The approach is compatible with narrative CVs and is increasingly used by funders piloting career-trajectory awards rather than project grants.
References
- Royal Society fellowship election guidance. NIH MERIT awards documentation.
Also known as
Career-spanning assessment · Lifetime achievement assessment
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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