Sep 3 2008
Seven pioneering scientists who have transformed human knowledge in the fields of nanoscience, neuroscience and astrophysics will receive the first Kavli Prize awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. The prize consists of one million dollars in each of the three scientific areas, a gold medal and a scroll. The award ceremony will take place on the 9th of September at Oslo Concert Hall. Åse Kleveland, artist and former Minister of Culture, will host the event.
The gold medal carries the portrait of Fred Kavli who initiated these new science prizes. The Kavli Prize was established in 2005 as a joint venture between The Kavli Foundation, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. The Academy selects the laureates on the basis of recommendation from three international prize committees.
Seven laureates
The President of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Ole Didrik Lærum, announced the names of the first Kavli laureates in May. The astrophysics prize was awarded jointly to Maarten Schmidt, California Institute of Technology, US, and Donald Lynden-Bell, Cambridge University, UK. Louis E. Brus, Columbia University, US, and Sumio Iijima, Meijo University in Japan, share the nanoscience prize. The neuroscience prize goes to three scientists: Pasko Rakic, Yale University School of Medicine, US, Thomas Jessell, Columbia University, US, and Sten Grillner, Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
Celebration of science
The award ceremony will be attended by the Kavli Prize laureates; His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway; Fred Kavli, founder of The Kavli Foundation; Ole Didrik Lærum, President and Reidun Sirevåg, Secretary General of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters; Tora Aasland, Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education; Kavli prize committee chairs and approximately 900 invited scientists and guests from around the world.
Before coming to Oslo to receive the prize, Kavli Prize winner Sten Grillner will be appearing at the prestigious British BA Festival of Science where he is named as one of the star speakers. He will talk about “The Logics of Networks in Motion – from Genes to Behaviour” on the opening day 6 September at the University of Liverpool.
In Norway acclaimed scientists in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience will give lectures in Oslo, Trondheim and Stavanger during the Kavli week from the 8th to the 12th of September. These events include popular science lectures, symposia and the prize winners' lectures. More details about the events can be found here: http://www.kavliprize.no/nyheter/vis.html?tid=39532