The LeRoy Apker Award recognizes outstanding achievements in physics by undergraduate students, and provides encouragement to students who have demonstrated great potential for future scientific accomplishment. Two awards are presented each year, one to a student from a Ph.D. granting institution, and one to a student from a non-Ph.D. granting institution. The award consists of $5,000 for the recipient, $5,000 for their undergraduate institution's physics department to support undergraduate research, a certificate, and reimbursement for travel to an APS meeting to give an invited talk.

Six finalists are selected to present their research for the Apker Award Selection Committee. Each of the finalists will receive an honorarium of $2,000, $1,000 for their undergraduate institution’s physics department to support undergraduate research, reimbursement for travel to the selection meeting, and a certificate.

Nominations are open to students at colleges and universities in the United States who were enrolled as undergraduates during at least part of the twelve-month period preceding the submittal deadline. Only one graduate may be nominated per department. The candidate should have completed or be completing the requirements for an undergraduate degree with an excellent academic record and should have demonstrated exceptional potential for scientific research by an original contribution to physics. If a candidate is not selected, they may be renominated for this award provided all other eligibility criteria are still met. In this case a new nomination package must be submitted.

• freshman
• sophomore
• junior
• senior

• US Citizen
• Permanent Resident
• International or Other Visa Status
• Undocumented

The nomination should include:

• a letter of nomination from the head of the physics department
• an official or unofficial pdf copy of the student's academic transcript 
• the nominee's contact information
• the student's original contribution, such as a manuscript or reprint of a research publication or senior thesis
• a 1,000-word summary thereof, written by the student
• two letters of recommendation from physicists who know the candidate's individual contribution to the work submitted