The Vilcek Foundation, a New York nonprofit devoted to aiding and celebrating American immigrants, announced that it will award two annual $25,000 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise to young American immigrants making outstanding contributions to their fields, with one prize to be given in biomedical research and the other in one branch, selected annually, of the arts or humanities. This year’s category will be moviemaking.

Recipients of the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise must have been born outside the United States and be no more than 38 years old as of January 1, 2009. The first prizes will be presented at the Vilcek Foundation’s annual awards ceremony in the spring of 2009.

“The Foundation is excited to add these prizes for early achievement to the existing Vilcek Prizes awarded to established artists and scientists,” says Dr. Jan T. Vilcek, the organization’s founder and president. “We felt it was appropriate to recognize the dedication, energy, and vision that young immigrants bring to the arts and sciences.”

For more information, visit www.vilcek.org