Bilde
The Kavli Prize Begins Call for Nominations
International Prize Honors Scientists for Outstanding Research in Astrophysics, Nanoscience and Neuroscience
York, U.K., September 10, 2007 – The inaugural call for nominations began today for the Kavli Prize, which honors scientists for their outstanding research and seminal advances in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience
The call for nominations was officially announced at a press conference held at the British Association for the Advancement of Science’s “Festival of Science” in York – a conference attended by Jan Fridthjof Bernt, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters; Fred Kavli, Founder and Chairman of The Kavli Foundation; and Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society.
“This presentation marks the opening of the call for nominations to the Kavli Prize,” said Bernt. “The nominations of candidates will close 15th of December, the prize winners will be announced 4th of June, and the award ceremony will take place for the first time in Oslo in September, 2008.”
With individual prizes for astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience, each Kavli Prize consists of a scroll, medal and cash award of USD one million dollars. The call for nominations will remain open through December 15, 2007.
“The Kavli prizes highlight the truly international nature of modern science,” Rees said. “They also emphasise that collaboration is often the key to modern scientific advancement, something highlighted by the fact that these prizes are open to groups of scientists as well as individuals.”
Also announced today are the award committees for each of the new prizes. Reflecting the international scope of each prize, the committees are comprised of leading researchers based in Asia, Europe and North America. Chosen for their excellence and reputation in their fields, the committee members will review the prize nominations then provide their final recommendations to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. The Academy will in turn review the final recommendations and select the award recipients. (Committee members are provided below.)
Members of the Kavli Prize committees were nominated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the Max Planck Society (Germany), the National Academy of Sciences (US), and The Royal Society (UK).
“I want to emphasize the international aspects of these prizes and the integrity and quality of the selection process,” said Fred Kavli after the conference. “The selection is backed by the Norwegian Academy and supported by other academies, giving us great confidence that the prizes will be awarded to the most deserving.”
The Kavli Prize is presented in partnership with the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, and The Kavli Foundation. Award recipients will be declared in 2008 and an award ceremony will take place in Oslo, Norway – Fred Kavli’s native country. Future Kavli Prizes will subsequently be awarded every two years.
For more information about the Kavli Prize, visit: www.kavliprize.no and www.kavlifoundation.org.
PRIZE COMMITTEES
Kavli Prize Committee in Astrophysics
Professor Reinhard Genzel
Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
Garching, Germany
Professor Wallace L.W. Sargent
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California – United States
Professor Harvey Tananbaum
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Cambridge, Massachusetts – United States
Professor Scott Tremaine
Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton, New Jersey – United States
Professor Oddbjørn Engvold
University of Oslo
Oslo, Norway
Kavli Prize Committee in Nanoscience
Professor Chunli Bai
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of
Chemistry
Beijing, China
Professor Mostafa A El-Sayed
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia – United States
Professor Klaus von Klitzing
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
Stuttgart, Germany
Professor Cherry Murray
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, California – United States
Professor Arne Skjeltorp
University of Oslo
Oslo, Norway
Kavli Prize Committee in Neuroscience
Professor Linda Buck
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Seattle, Washington – United States
Professor Jean-Pierre Changeux
Institute Pasteur
Paris, France
Professor Eric Kandel
Columbia University
New York, New York – United States
Professor Bert Sakmann
Max Planck Institute for Medical Research
Heidelberg, Germany
Professor Jon Storm-Mathisen
University of Oslo
Oslo, Norway
