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.”
Posted 29th May 2008
