Jun 24 2009
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has announced the winners of the NWO/Spinoza Prize for 2009. Two of the three laureates of this year's Prize are Springer authors, Marten Scheffer and Albert van den Berg. M.D. Ferrari is the other winner. The prize, also viewed as the 'Dutch Nobel Prize,' is the highest Dutch award in science and is given for outstanding, pioneering and inspiring research.
Previously, the prize amount was EUR 1.5 million, but this year, each of the three researchers will receive EUR 2.5 million to spend on research of their choice. Dutch Education Minister Ronald Plasterk will officially present the prizes on 25 November 2009 in the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague, Netherlands.
Professor Marten Scheffer is an aquatic ecologist at Wageningen University and Research Centre and has made pioneering contributions to our understanding of critical transitions in complex systems, varying from transitions in shallow lakes to climate change and the collapse of ancient cultures. Dr. Scheffer published his book Ecology of Shallow Lakes with Springer.
Professor Albert van den Berg is a physicist at the University of Twente, and has made key breakthroughs in the understanding and manipulation of fluids in micro- and nanochannels, and has applied this knowledge to areas such as the development of new medical equipment. Dr. van den Berg is co-author of the Springer book Lab-on-Chips for Cellomics and co-editor of the proceedings volumes Micro Total Analysis Systems.
The WO/Spinoza Prize is awarded to Dutch researchers who rank among the world's top scientists. The laureates are internationally renowned and know how to inspire young researchers. This is the fifteenth occasion on which the Spinoza Prizes have been awarded.