Names of Inaugural Kavli Prize Winners Revealed
OSLO, Norway (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) May 28, 2008 --
SEVEN pioneering scientists who have transformed human knowledge in the
fields of nanoscience, neuroscience and astrophysics have become the
first recipients of the million-dollar Kavli prizes.
The laureates were selected for their groundbreaking research that has
significantly advanced our understanding of the unusual properties of
matter on an ultra-small scale, the basic circuitry of the human brain
and the nature of quasars.
They are the inaugural recipients of the new Kavli prizes, a partnership
between the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, The Kavli
Foundation, and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. The
three biannual awards will complement the Nobel Prizes which since 1901
have been given for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or
medicine, literature and peace.
The joint seven winners, from the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan and
the US, will receive a scroll, medal and a share of the $1,000,000 prize
for each subject. Ole Didrik Lærum, President
of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, revealed the names of
those selected to receive the awards at a ceremony in Oslo. The
announcement was transmitted via a live simulcast to Columbia
University, New York, where it was part of the opening of the first
annual World Science Festival.
The Kavli Prize is named after and funded by Fred Kavli, the
entrepreneur and philanthropist who was inspired to seek a career in
science and engineering while marvelling at the northern lights in the
skies above the tiny Norwegian village where he grew up. He later moved
to the US where he founded the Kavlico Corporation, which became one of
the world’s largest suppliers of sensors for
aeronautic, automotive and industrial application.
Attending the ceremony in New York, Mr Kavli said: “The
Kavli Prizes were created to recognize achievements in three
exceptionally exciting fields which we believe promise remarkable future
discoveries and benefits for humanity in the 21st century and beyond.”
“Since my days in Norway, I have pondered the
universe, the planet, nature, and the wonders of man. Through these
prizes, we hope to honour, support and bring recognition to scientists
who have not only pondered the same questions, but whose work has
profoundly advanced the frontiers of our knowledge.
“We aim to do so while raising people’s
awareness of the benefits of fundamental science to their own, everyday
lives.”
The astrophysics prize was awarded jointly to Maarten Schmidt, of
the California Institute of Technology, US, and Donald Lynden-Bell,
of Cambridge University, UK, both of whose work underpins our
understanding of quasars.
During the 1960s Schmidt analysed the visible light spectra of quasars
and used the results to explain just how distant these extraordinarily
bright galaxies are, while Lynden-Bell demonstrated how they were
powered by the collapse of material into massive black holes.
Louis E. Brus, of Columbia University, US, and Sumio Iijima, of
Meijo University in Japan, share the nanoscience prize for their
respective discoveries of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, also
known as quantum dots, and carbon nanotubes.
Major advances being predicted in fields as diverse as electronics, the
environment, energy and bio-medicine would not have been possible
without Brus and Iijima’s contributions in
explaining the unusual properties of particles so small that electron
motion is confined to zero or one dimension.
The neuroscience prize goes to three scientists who collectively have
deciphered the basic mechanisms which govern the development and
functioning of the networks of cells in the brain and spinal cord.
Pasko Rakic, of the Yale University School of Medicine, in the
US, explained how the neurons in the embryonic brain arrange themselves
during development into the complex, densely interconnected circuitry of
the adult cerebral cortex.
Thomas Jessell, of Columbia University, US, has revealed the
chemical signals behind the differentiation of early progenitor cells
into the complex assembly of different types of neurons that make up
neuronal circuits.
Sten Grillner, of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden showed how
neural circuits in mammalian spinal cords generate motor commands for
rhythmic movements such as locomotion. His lamprey model is seen as the
first and so far only vertebrate neuronal system controlling an
integrated function that is understood at a molecular and cellular level.
Prof Sir Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society, the UK’s
academy of science, said: “The Kavli prizes
highlight three challenging and important fields of research. The choice
of winners highlights the international character of modern science, and
illustrates that many major advances depends on cooperative and group
efforts rather than single individuals.”
For detailed information on each of the prizes, the winners and their
work, see explanatory notes for each of the prizes on the Kavli Prize
website: www.kavliprize.no
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