The Kavli Prize was established in 2005 as a joint venture of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, and the Kavli Foundation. It honors, supports, and recognizes scientists for outstanding work in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience. Three prizes are awarded every second year. Each of the three Kavli Prizes consists of a gold medal, a scroll, and a cash award of US$1,000,000. The medal has a diameter of , a thickness of , and weighs .Yngvar Reichelt: «Kavlimedaljen», NNF-Nytt. Norsk numismatisk tidsskrift, nr. 3, 2010, s. 21–25.
The first Kavli Prizes were awarded on 9 September 2008 in Oslo, presented by Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway.
Selection committees
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters appoints three prize committees consisting of leading international scientists after receiving recommendations made from the following organisations:
Chinese Academy of Sciences French Academy of Sciences Max Planck Society United States National Academy of Sciences Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Royal Society
Laureates
Astrophysics YearLaureate Institution Country Citation2008Maarten SchmidtCalifornia Institute of Technology"for their seminal contributions to understanding the nature of quasars"Donald Lynden-BellCambridge University2010Jerry E. NelsonLick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz"for their contributions to the development of giant telescopes"Raymond N. WilsonEuropean Southern Observatory, GarchingJames Roger AngelSteward Observatory, University of Arizona2012David C. JewittUniversity of California Los Angeles "for discovering and characterizing the Kuiper Belt and its largest members, work that led to a major advance in the understanding of the history of our planetary system"Jane X. LuuLincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Michael E. BrownCalifornia Institute of Technology2014Alan H. GuthMassachusetts Institute of Technology"for pioneering the theory of cosmic inflation"Andrei D. LindeStanford University Alexei A. StarobinskyLandau Institute for Theoretical Physics 2016Ronald W.P. DreverCalifornia Institute of Technology"for the direct detection of gravitational waves"Kip S. ThorneCalifornia Institute of Technology Rainer Weiss Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018Ewine van DishoeckLeiden University"for her combined contributions to observational, theoretical, and laboratory astrochemistry, elucidating the life cycle of interstellar clouds and the formation of stars and planets"2020Andrew FabianUniversity of Cambridge"for his groundbreaking research in the field of observational X-ray astronomy, covering a wide range of topics from gas flows in clusters of galaxies to supermassive black holes at the heart of galaxies"2022Roger Ulrich University of California, Los Angeles"for their pioneering work and leadership in the development of helio- and asteroseismology"Jørgen Christensen-DalsgaardAarhus UniversityConny AertsKU Leuven2024Sara SeagerMassachusetts Institute of Technology "for their ground-breaking work on the discovery and characterization of extra-solar planets and their atmospheres"David CharbonneauHarvard University 2026Vasily BelokurovUniversity of Cambridge"for uncovering the fossil evidence of past mergers proving that the Milky Way galaxy was built through hierarchical accretion"Amina HelmiUniversity of Groningen University of Strasbourg
Nanoscience YearLaureate Institution Country Citation2008Louis E. BrusColumbia University"for their large impact in the development of the nanoscience field of the zero and one dimensional nanostructures in physics, chemistry and biology"Sumio IijimaMeijo University2010Donald EiglerIBM Almaden Research Center"for their development of unprecedented methods to control matter on the nanoscale"Nadrian C. SeemanNew York University2012Mildred S. DresselhausMassachusetts Institute of Technology"for her pioneering contributions to the study of phonons, electron-phonon interactions, and thermal transport in nanostructures"2014Thomas W. EbbesenUniversity of Strasbourg "for transformative contributions to the field of nano-optics that have broken long-held beliefs about the limitations of the resolution limits of optical microscopy and imaging"Stefan W. HellMax Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry John B. PendryImperial College London 2016Gerd BinnigIBM Zurich Research Laboratory"for the invention and realization of atomic force microscopy, a breakthrough in measurement technology and nanosculpting that continues to have a transformative impact on nanoscience and technology"Christoph GerberUniversity of BaselCalvin QuateStanford University2018Emmanuelle CharpentierMax Planck Institute for Infection Biology "for the invention of CRISPR-Cas9, a precise nanotool for editing DNA, causing a revolution in biology, agriculture, and medicine"Jennifer DoudnaUniversity of California, BerkeleyVirginijus ŠikšnysVilnius University2020Harald RoseUniversität Ulm"for sub-ångström resolution imaging and chemical analysis using electron beams"2020 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience". www.kavliprize.org. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020. Maximilian HaiderCEOS GmbHKnut UrbanForschungszentrum JülichOndrej KrivanekNion Co 2022Jacob Sagiv Weizmann Institute of Science"for Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAMs) on solid substrates; molecular coatings to control surface properties"Ralph Nuzzo University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignDavid Allara Pennsylvania State UniversityGeorge M. WhitesidesHarvard University2024Robert S. LangerKoch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"for pioneering work integrating synthetic nanoscale materials with biological function for biomedical applications"Armand Paul AlivisatosUniversity of ChicagoChad A. MirkinNorthwestern University2026Eva AndreiRutgers University"for foundational work that established the field of Twistronics"Pablo Jarillo-HerreroMassachusetts Institute of Technology Allan H. MacDonaldUniversity of Texas at Austin
Neuroscience YearLaureateInstitution Country Citation2008Sten GrillnerKarolinska Institute"for discoveries on the developmental and functional logic of neuronal circuits"Thomas JessellColumbia University Pasko RakicYale University School of Medicine 2010Richard H. SchellerGenentech"for discovering the molecular basis of neurotransmitter release"Thomas C. SüdhofStanford University School of MedicineJames E. RothmanYale University2012Cornelia Isabella BargmannRockefeller University"for elucidating basic neuronal mechanisms underlying perception and decision"Winfried DenkMax Planck Institute for Medical ResearchAnn M. GraybielMassachusetts Institute of Technology2014Brenda MilnerMontreal Neurological Institute, McGill University"for the discovery of specialized brain networks for memory and cognition"John O’KeefeUniversity College LondonMarcus E. RaichleWashington University in St. Louis2016Eve MarderBrandeis University"for the discovery of mechanisms that allow experience and neural activity to remodel brain function"Michael M. MerzenichUniversity of California, San FranciscoCarla J. ShatzStanford University2018A. James HudspethRockefeller University"for their scientific discoveries of the molecular and neural mechanisms of hearing"Robert FettiplaceUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison Christine PetitCollège de France2020David Julius University of California, San Francisco"for their transformative discovery of receptors for temperature and pressure".2020 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience". www.kavliprize.org. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020. Ardem PatapoutianScripps Research and Howard Hughes Medical Investigator 2022Jean-Louis MandelUniversity of Strasbourg"for pioneering the discovery of genes underlying a range of brain disorders"Harry T. OrrUniversity of Minnesota Medical SchoolHuda ZoghbiBaylor College of Medicine Christopher A. Walsh Harvard Medical School2024Nancy KanwisherMassachusetts Institute of Technology"for the discovery of a highly localized and specialized system for representation of faces in human and non-human primate neocortex"Winrich FreiwaldRockefeller University Doris Ying TsaoUniversity of California, Berkeley2026Christine HoltUniversity of Cambridge"for the discovery of local protein translation in neurons and establishing its importance for brain development and plasticity"Kelsey Martin University of California, Los Angeles, Simons FoundationErin SchumanMax Planck Institute for Brain Research Oswald StewardUniversity of California, Irvine
See also List of general science and technology awards List of astronomy awards List of neuroscience awards The Brain Prize Golden Brain Award Gruber Prize in Neuroscience W. Alden Spencer Award Karl Spencer Lashley Award Mind & Brain Prize Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience
References
External links The Kavli Prize, official site The Kavli Prize on The Kavli Foundation site The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research