DailyDirt: Prestigious Prizes

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The Olympic games publicize the physical achievements of athletes, but what about the notable achievements of scientists? It's somewhat hard to cheer for individuals working on fundamental research, but sometimes scientists get some well-deserved recognition. There are other prizes besides the Nobel, and here are just a few international awards for smart folks working on scientific endeavors.

• The first round of the Fundamental Physics Prize has been awarded to 9 physicists -- handpicked by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner to receive $3 million each. The Milner Foundation prize is a little more than double the value of the Nobel prize in the same category (which is worth about $1.2 million), but is the prestige of the Nobel greater? [url]
• The Kavli Prizes started in 2008 to award million-dollar prizes in astrophysics, neuroscience and nanoscience. The Kavli Foundation was started by Norwegian businessman and philanthropist, Fred Kavli. These Kavli prizes are not as well-known as the Nobel, but the Swedes don't have a monopoly on awarding scientific medals. [url]
• The Crafoord Prize tries to complement the Nobel prizes by picking significant achievements in fields that the Nobel ignores: astronomy and mathematics, biosciences, geosciences or polyarthritis research. The very specific prize for rheumatoid arthritis research was instituted because Holger Crafoord suffered from the disease, but it's only awarded by a special committee that decides when such an honor is warranted. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: challenges, crafoord, kavli, milner, nobel, physics, prizes, research, science