The SOM Foundation has opened applications for three prestigious awards that will support innovative research in architecture and urban design. The 2025 Research Prize, 2025 European Research Prize, and 2025 Robert L. Wesley Award collectively offer significant funding opportunities for faculty teams and undergraduate students working on groundbreaking projects related to mobility infrastructure and sustainable urban development.

This year's research theme focuses on "Exploring the Potential of Mobility Corridors," examining how movement infrastructure at every scale influences our built environment. The foundation seeks original research that investigates new approaches to mobility corridors and their potential to provide sustainable growth solutions. Projects should explore how improved movement systems for people and goods can better support surrounding ecosystems, communities, and activities, ultimately helping to define the future of urban development through interconnected systems.

The 2025 Research Prize will award two separate $30,000 grants to faculty-led interdisciplinary teams based in the United States. These teams must conduct original research contributing to the mobility corridors theme, with applications due by November 10, 2025. The distinguished jury will be led by Iker Gil, Executive Director of the SOM Foundation, and includes notable experts from transportation and urban planning fields: Gia Biagi, Secretary of Transportation for the Illinois Department of Transportation in Chicago; Julia Day, Partner and Project Director at Gehl in New York City; Kit Krankel McCullough, Teaching Professor at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning in Ann Arbor; and Jeffrey Sriver, Director of Transportation Planning for the Chicago Department of Transportation.

For European researchers, the 2025 European Research Prize offers a €20,000 award to one faculty-led interdisciplinary team based in Europe. Similar to the U.S. prize, this award supports original research on mobility corridors, with the same November 10, 2025 application deadline. The European jury, also led by Iker Gil, features internationally recognized experts including Pedro Gadanho, an architect, author, and independent curator from Lisbon; Meredith Glaser, Chief Executive Officer of the Urban Cycling Institute in Amsterdam and Professor of Cycling at Ghent University; and Carlos Mínguez Carrasco, Chief Curator at ArkDes, the Swedish National Centre for Architecture and Design in Stockholm.

The Robert L. Wesley Award specifically supports BIPOC undergraduate students enrolled in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, or engineering programs throughout the United States. Three students will receive $10,000 each, along with participation in a comprehensive yearlong mentorship program that connects award recipients with leading BIPOC practitioners and educators in their fields. This award was established in 2020 to honor Robert L. Wesley, who made history as the first Black partner at SOM, and applications are due November 13, 2025.

The Robert L. Wesley Award jury brings together accomplished professionals and educators committed to advancing diversity in design fields. Robert L. Wesley himself, the retired SOM partner from Chicago, leads the jury alongside Teri Canada, Principal and Cofounder of EVOKE Studio in Durham; Lisa C. Henry, Associate Professor and Associate Dean at the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City; Camille Martin-Thomsen, Dean of Faculty and Vice President of Academic Affairs and professor of architecture and interior architecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and Amber N. Wiley, Wick Cary Director of the Institute for Quality Communities at the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

Established in 1979, the SOM Foundation has maintained its mission to advance the design professions' ability to address contemporary challenges by supporting groups and individuals with exceptional design aspirations. The foundation's award programming began in 1981 and has grown to encompass six annual awards across the United States, Europe, and China. These awards consistently support students and faculty in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, and engineering fields, enabling them to undertake rigorous interdisciplinary research that shapes our collective future and addresses the most pressing urban and environmental challenges of our time.