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SciX and ADS Awards and Recognition

Twenty-five years of recognition, from the UN General Assembly to the Smithsonian

18 honors, 2001 to 2026

NASA, the Smithsonian, scientific societies, and the United Nations have recognized SciX and ADS for open, linked scientific literature.

Recognition for SciX

SciX is a NASA-funded open search engine for astrophysics, Earth science, heliophysics, planetary science and physics. The two most recent honors went to the team as a whole, for expanding a thirty-year astronomy service into a discovery engine for all of the Earth and space sciences.

2026

Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Digital Innovation Award

Smithsonian Excellence in Digital Awards 2026

Awarded to the SciX Team

The category recognizes a team's ability to solve institutional challenges by applying innovative technologies, tools or processes. The citation credits SciX with expanding the long-running Astrophysics Data System beyond astronomy into the Earth, environmental, planetary and space sciences, and with connecting papers to the datasets, software, observing proposals, grants, references and citations behind them rather than returning lists of publications.

SciX has extended a research infrastructure that astronomers have relied on for decades to many more scientific communities and provides a free, expertly curated and interconnected body of scientific knowledge that can serve as a trustworthy foundation for both human research and emerging AI-assisted scientific discovery.

Honorees

  • Dr. Alberto Accomazzi
  • Dr. Kelly Lockhart
  • Dr. Taylor Jacovich
  • Dr. Mugdha Polimera
  • Jean-Claude Paquin
  • Fernanda de Macedo Alves
  • Tim Hostetler
  • Shinyi (Jennifer) Chen
  • Dr. Felix Grezes
  • Dr. Matthew Templeton
  • Dr. Tom Allen
  • Edwin Henneken
  • Carolyn Stern Grant
  • Dr. Jeffrey Pomerantz
  • Jennifer March
  • Daniel Chivvis
  • Dr. Jennifer Bartlett
  • Dr. Anna Kelbert
  • Paul Di Re
  • Dr. Atilla Kaan Alkan

Smithsonian Excellence in Digital Awards 2026 citation

Earlier recognition, 2001 to 2023

The record below spans awards to the team as a whole, awards to individual team members, and recognition earned by the NASA-funded Astrophysics Data System (ADS), the legacy product SciX grew out of. ADS folds fully into SciX by 2027, so these citations form one continuous record for one long-running service.

2019

Smithsonian Institution

Secretary's Research Award

Awarded to Alberto Accomazzi

Awarded in the category of scholarly web site for the new ADS website.

2019

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

CfA Strategic Plan 2019-2024

The Center commended ADS in its strategic plan.

A prime example of the CfA ground-breaking efforts in the data and literature arena is provided by the NASA-funded Astrophysics Data System (ADS), which provides a first-class interface to the astronomy and astrophysics literature, serving the international astronomical community as its primary connection to its literature.

CfA strategic plan for 2019-2024.

2018

Association for Information Science & Technology

Best JASIST Paper Award

Awarded to Michael Kurtz and Edwin Henneken

Awarded for their paper “Measuring Metrics — A 40-Year Longitudinal Cross-Validation of Citations, Downloads, and Peer Review in Astrophysics” in the Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology.

2018

Special Libraries Association

Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics Division Award

Awarded to the Astrophysics Data System

ADS is not only an outstanding provider of information but an integral and involved part of the physics and astronomy communities.

Special Libraries Association, report of the awards presentation.

2016

Special Libraries Association

Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics Achievement Award

Awarded to Donna Thompson

Awarded for outstanding contributions to the division and her professional work at ADS, marked by distinction and dedication to librarianship in astronomy and physics.

2015

Minor Planet Center

Minor Planet 69287 Gunthereichhorn

Awarded to Günther Eichhorn

Minor Planet 69287 was named Gunthereichhorn for Günther Eichhorn, who developed and managed the Astrophysics Data System from 1992 to 2007.

Minor Planet Circular 95804, 28 September 2015.

2008

Royal Astronomical Society

Award for Services to Astronomy

Awarded to Günther Eichhorn

Awarded for his work as project manager of the Astrophysics Data System.

the project manager for the Astrophysics Data System (ADS), the online database that includes the vast majority of astronomical literature. ADS gives open access to astronomical research material and has revolutionised the field, allowing astronomers and others to investigate publications on an equal basis.

Royal Astronomical Society press release, 2008.

2008

NASA Astrophysics Archival Senior Review Panel

Senior Review Assessment

The panel ranked ADS first among six projects in its 2008 assessment.

ADS is so extensively used by the entire professional astronomy community that it is hard to imagine existing without it.

NASA Astrophysics Archival Senior Review Panel, 2008 report.

2005

United Nations General Assembly

Commendation of the ADS Mirror Sites

the mirror sites of the NASA-funded Astrophysics Data System (ADS) . . . had been enthusiastically accepted by the scientific community and had become important assets for developing countries . . .

Excerpt from the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, “Report on the United Nations/European Space Agency/National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America Workshop on the International Heliophysical Year 2007” (Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates, 20-23 November 2005), report number A/AC105_856.

2004

United Nations General Assembly

Commendation of Open Access Road Maps

its work and success in laying out and implementing road maps for the improved access for all scientists to the scientific literature . . .

Excerpt from the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, “Report on the Twelfth United Nations/European Space Agency Workshop on Basic Space Science” (Beijing, 24-28 May 2004), report number A/AC105_829.

2002

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Visiting Committee

Visiting Committee Report

It is no exaggeration to say that ADS has revolutionized the use of the astronomical literature, dramatically changed the use and focus of astronomical libraries, empowered astronomy research in underdeveloped countries and small institutions, and is probably the most valuable single contribution to astronomy research that the CfA has made in its lifetime.

Report of the CfA Visiting Committee, 2002.

2001

American Astronomical Society

George Van Biesbroeck Prize

Awarded to Michael Kurtz

... the visionary designer of the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) which clearly has revolutionized for over a decade the speed and thoroughness in which astronomers now can search and access the vast and still growing technical literature.

Excerpt from Physics Today, vol. 54, issue 6, p. 72.

Physics Today citation

2001

United Nations General Assembly

Commendation of Literature Access

. . . noted the great value of NASA's Astrophysics Data System in providing access to astronomical literature. Participants urge industrialized countries to ensure continuing support for free access to the system . . .

Excerpt from the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, “Report on the Tenth United Nations/European Space Agency Workshop on Basic Space Science: Exploring the Universe; Sky Surveys, Space Exploration and Space Technologies” (Reduit, Mauritius, 25-29 June 2001), report number A/AC.105.766.

2001

U.S. National Academy of Science

Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium

NASA's initiative for the Astrophysics Data System has vastly increased the accessibility of the scientific literature for astronomers. NASA deserves credit for this valuable initiative and is urged to continue it.

Excerpt from Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium, 2001, “Policy Recommendations for NASA: Space-Based Astronomy” section, p. 193.

2001

Special Libraries Association

Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics Division Award

Awarded to Günther Eichhorn

in the genesis and growth of the Astrophysics Data System, the development of which represents an unparalleled shift in the propagation of the literature of astronomy. ... Under your leadership, the ADS ... has become an indispensable aid to astronomical research.

Excerpt from Physics Today, vol. 54, issue 8, p. 61.

Physics Today citation

Every award above rests on work done by a team. Meet the team