Awards FAQ

All awards deadlines are strictly observed: requests for a deadline extension or exemption will not be granted. 

Please note that all awards applications are due on the day that is listed by 5:00pm Eastern Time. 

Requests for support regarding program criteria and/or technical assistance received at or after the application deadline will not be considered as grounds for deadline extensions. 

Most AIA awards require the applicant to be an AIA member in good standing (i.e., current on membership dues) at the time of application. Please refer to the criteria of the specific award program you are interested in for information on any AIA membership requirement(s) to apply.   

Please check your AIA membership dues status before the application deadline to remedy any owed dues. Receipt of dues after award compliance screening does not constitute grounds for compliance exemption. 

Most AIA award programs require that the applicant and/or lead project designer must be a U.S.-licensed architect. Please refer to the criteria of the specific award program you are interested in for information on licensure requirement(s) to apply. 

Anyone meeting the program-specific eligibility criteria can proactively apply to AIA awards: candidates do not need to wait to be nominated. 

People-based AIA award programs (e.g., Fellowship, Young Architects, etc.), can require applicants to identify a nominator who acts in a sponsor role, provides materials toward the candidate's application, etc. Please refer to the specific program criteria for more information. 

The AIA national awards portfolio uses the online software program Open Water to receive all award application materials (including fee payment) and application reviews. 

All information must be submitted through the online software: sending materials via email, fax, shared file upload software (e.g., Drobox, OneDrive, etc.), via phone, or postal mail is not permitted. 

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Any application requirement (e.g., document standards, required materials, etc.) will be noted within the online application submission portal. 

Application components are made available to the public when the program begins actively accepting materials. Applicants and their supporters should defer to information housed in the submission portal and should not assume previous award application iterations will remain viable in future program cycles. 

AIA recommends applicants and their supporters wait to prepare any materials until the award is actively accepting submissions to ensure all relevant information is available.

All AIA project-based awards require completion of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence Metrics Scorecard. Detailed instructions and fields to complete are included in the online application form. Please read them carefully, complete the associated file, and upload the results to your application. Note that you will not find the instructions on the last section of the application form or on the reference pdf. 

In addition to the Framework for Design Excellence Metrics Scorecard, applications to the COTE Top Ten (10) award program must complete the COTE Super Spreadsheet. Access to the most recent downloadable template is found on the COTE award webpage. 

Applicants to AIA person-based awards do not need to address all the measures included in the Framework for Design Excellence Metrics Scorecard. However, they are highly encouraged to illustrate how their candidate(s) perform in this context and highlight relevant narratives and metrics in application materials where applicable. 

Please visit the Fellowship page for this information. If you are a first-time candidate, we recommend downloading the Fellowship 101 resource on that page.

Most AIA awards require letters of support or reference from industry experts attesting to the merits of the project, candidate, etc. Please refer to the criteria of the specific award program you are interested in for information on letter of reference requirement(s) to apply. 

All reference letters are confidential and remain so even after the selection process has ended. 

All letters are collected electronically through the online application platform: receipt of letters via email, fax, shared online drive (e.g., Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.), or postal mail is not permitted.

All required letters must be received in full by the application deadline. Late or partially complete letters provided after the application deadline are not accepted. Applications that fail to receive all required letters in full by the deadline will be disqualified. 

Applicants are encouraged to request letters from intended writers through the application system early and check receipt progress within the application system often. 

All reference letters should be addressed using the following format: "Jury Chair, [Award Year, Award Name]". 

Applicants can recycle letters of reference and/or letter of reference writers if they reapply to an award program. 

However, award programs vary on whether applicants must request writers resubmit the letter into the latter application packet (i.e., "roll over" of letters is not necessarily automatic within the application portal). Please refer to the criteria of the specific award program you are interested in for information on this process. 

Reference letters for candidates who received an AIA award are archived with the application. Unsuccessful applications reference letters are kept on file for the season the program occurs within. 

Unsuccessful application reference letters remain confidential. 

Reference letters are confidential for the lifetime of a successful applicant or for 30 years, whichever is later. 

Letters for a 1975 submitter who died in 2012 would come open on his/her death, but letters for another 1975 submitter who died in 1980 would not come open until 2005. This is part of AIA’s retention schedule for records management. 

Photo collages are acceptable. 

Applicants are advised to consider whether the size, quantity, and placement of images on a collage are unduly difficult for jurors to view. Materials that are difficult for jurors to view and assess may contribute to lower scoring. 

Please note that AIA considers all non-text files as images (e.g, photographs, project plans, designs, etc.). 

Interior shots are often required, and highly recommended, in project-based programs. Please refer to the criteria of the specific award program you are interested in for information on image requirement(s) to apply.   

Nighttime shots are requested of projects that operate at night. If the project does not operate at night, then nighttime photographs are not necessary in the application. 

A Copyright Information File is required for all applications containing images (e.g., announcement images, portfolio images, etc.). 

The Copyright Information File contains information on any/all images used throughout the application and affiliated attachments. This file is created by the applicant and uploaded into the application via the online portal as one continuous PDF file. 

 The file must include the following information: 

Announcement images:

• Thumbnail
• Caption - Under 200 characters
• Copyright credit (name and contact information) - who took the photo
• Copyright notice (name and contact information) - who owns the photo

Images in the portfolio / exhibits file:

• Thumbnail
• Page of the portfolio it appears on
• Copyright credit (name and contact information) - who took the photo
• Copyright notice (name and contact information) - who owns the photo

Work featured in the submission file (e.g. text, brochures, drawings, photographs, logos, graphics, plans, closed, books, or other copyrighted material):

• Author/creator
• Copyright owner
• Publication date

Yes. There’s a common misconception that if it is on the internet, it’s public domain. This is not true. 

Any materials captured from a website need to be included in the copyright. Please provide the necessary information for all images gained from websites on the Copyright Information File. 

Typical copyright information should be provided: Title, publisher, author, date of publication. If you are referencing a specific page or article in from the publication, please provide that information as well. 

The copyright information is for AIA records to give proper attribution to the image license holder should you be recognized with an award. 

Applications are reviewed by a panel of experts referred to as a jury. Jurors score submissions based on evaluation criteria established according to the intent of each award program. 

The format for application materials (e.g., portfolio document) can vary between award programs. Please refer to the criteria of the specific award program you are interested in for information on packet format. 

Yes, unless otherwise indicated applications must be on 8.5x11 pages, with reasonable (i.e., easily viewable, printable) margins. All other sizes will be disqualified. This requirement is to ensure standardized presentation of materials for jury review. Petitions to be exempt from this requirement will not be considered.

Portrait and landscape view using reasonable (i.e., easily viewable, printable) margins is acceptable. Spread format is not accepted. Any font used should be easily read and a minimum of 11-point size. Note that materials which are difficult for jurors to view and assess may incur lower scores as a result. Do not assume view aids (e.g., zoom function) are available for juror use.

The page limits refer to every page in the uploaded document and not to pagination. For example, if the page limit for your program is 40, any PDFs over 40 pages will be disqualified, regardless of how those pages are labeled or how many pages are over the limit (e.g., a 41-page packet and a 51-page packet are both equally disqualified). We simplified the page limit rules to make them easy to understand and to reduce opportunities for disqualification.

Organizing pages (e.g., cover pages, tables of contents, etc.) are not required and are often noted as not useful in project assessment. You may use them so long as the total document is under the page limit. 

Previously successful application samples can be requested from the AIA Archives at archives@aia.org.

Each program notification period varies based on the timeline of the award and the volume of applications received. In extreme circumstances notification to award applicants may exceed the estimated notification period. AIA reserves the right to modify estimated notification intervals to ensure all applicants receive a fair, equitable review. 

All applicants not selected are notified of their status via email once a recipient(s) has been successfully contracted. 

Most applicants selected to receive an award will be notified via email from AIA. Certain person-based AIA award program recipients are notified over the phone by the AIA Board of Directors President or their designee. Please refer to the criteria of the specific award program you are interested in for information on this process. 

Disqualification is a status whereby one or more parts of the application were not compliant with the award eligibility criteria, application formatting standards, required attachments, omitted required data, etc. All AIA award applications undergo administrative and eligibility compliance review. Applications marked as disqualified do not proceed to review and are not considered for an award. 

Universal disqualifications for all AIA Awards programs include pages larger than 8.5x11 inches, incomplete unpaid labor and Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct attestations, missing copyright and image release information, and/or attempting to contact a jury member. Please refer to the criteria of the specific award program you are interested in for additional disqualifications to be aware of. When in doubt, contact AIA awards for clarification. 

Contact from award applicants and/or their supporters (e.g., nominator, letter of reference writer, mentor, mentee, employer, etc.) to the real or potential jurors presiding over the review of an AIA award program is strictly prohibited. Measures to prevent communication before, during, or after jury decisions are in place to reduce opportunity for introducing explicit or implicit bias that may compromise jurors abilities to provide all applications a fair, equitable evaluation of their works. 

Identifying information on AIA jurors and/or their deliberations, decisions, and materials are confidential unless otherwise noted by AIA awards staff. Requests to receive jury information will not be granted.  

Evidence of current or future applicants and/or their supporters attempting or actualizing contact with an AIA award juror(s) pertaining to the evaluation of applications to specific award programs within specific award cycles can result in an official filing with the AIA Ethics Committee, suspension of membership in good standing, ineligibility of involved parties from participation in current and/or future AIA award program participation, and/or additional measures. 

Yes. Applicants are encouraged to start soliciting image permissions early in the process.

Each submission must provide one Image Copyright Release Form for every image included in the application (e.g., announcement images, portfolio images, company logos, photographs, online images, etc.) where the applicant is not the licensed copyright owner. Each image referenced in the Copyright Information File should have one (1) corresponding Image Copyright Release Form or clearly note the applicant is the owner of that image. 

Please combine all fully executed forms in a single PDF file (e.g., one Image Copyright Holder Release Form). 

Applications that do not provide the required release forms for all images and/or provide forms with altered terms and/or provide forms after the application deadline are subject to disqualification. 

Yes. 

Each submission must provide one completed release form enabling AIA use of submitted images and/or other material via completing and submitting an Award Applicant Materials Release Form. 

Please provide the fully executed form as a single PDF file.

Applications that do not provide the required release form and/or provide forms with altered terms and/or provide forms after the application deadline are subject to disqualification.