News and Events
First Kavli Awards to Open World Science Festival
Recipients of $3 Million in Prizes to be Announced at May 28 Summit
April 22, 2008 New York, NY
The World Science Festival (www.worldsciencefestival.com) will get underway in New York City on May 28 with an announcement naming the laureates of the three inaugural $1 million Kavli Prizes, honoring researchers in astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience. The Kavli Prizes are a partnership of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, The Kavli Foundation and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
The naming of the first Kavli honorees will begin the World Science
Summit, a single-day, invitation-only event at Columbia University
designed to lead off the World Science Festival with a serious
conversation among prominent researchers, policy-makers and
widely-recognized business leaders about the important role science is
playing in global affairs.
The winners will be announced during a live simulcast transmitted
from Oslo, Norway at 9 a.m. in New York and 3 p.m. in Oslo. Joining the
special event in New York will be Fred Kavli, founder and chairman of
The Kavli Foundation, and Reidun Sirevåg, Secretary General of the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo.
Among the special guests attending the announcements will be nine
Nobel Laureates – David Baltimore, Steven Chu, David Gross, Dudley
Herschbach, Leon Lederman, Sherwood Rowland, Horst Stormer, Harold
Varmus, and Carl Wieman. Opening the Summit will be Columbia University
President Lee Bollinger and World Science Festival Co-Founder Brian
Greene, who will be joined by six-time Emmy Award-winning actor Alan
Alda.
The Kavli Prizes recognize scientists for their seminal advances in
astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience. Consisting of a scroll,
medal and cash award of $1 million, each prize will be awarded every
two years. Recipients are chosen by three prize committees comprised of
distinguished international scientists recommended by the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the Max Planck
Society, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and The Royal Society.
The committees’ selections are then provided to the Norwegian Academy
of Science and Letters, which reviews and then must confirm the
selections before the choice of prize recipients is complete.
“The Kavli Prizes provide recognition for scientists worldwide whose
work is taking humanity deeper into three of the most exciting
scientific frontiers of the 21st century – astrophysics, nanoscience
and neuroscience,” said Fred Kavli. “These are areas of science that
strike at the core of understanding who we are and where we are going.”
Said Reidun Sirevåg, “We are pleased this announcement from the
Norwegian Academy will be shared at the World Science Summit – a day
itself dedicated to the advancement and celebration of science.”
“We’re delighted that the World Science Festival will help realize
the vision of Fred Kavli by serving as the U.S. ‘launch pad’ for the
Kavli Prize laureate announcements,” said Brian Greene, Co-Founder of
the World Science Festival. ”The establishment of such impressive
awards in three pivotal areas emphasizes the importance of basic
scientific research and will provide a great honor for the inaugural
winners.”
About the World Science Festival
The first annual World Science Festival will take place in New York
City from May 28-June 1, 2008. The festival is a production of the
Science Festival Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
headquartered in New York City co-founded by Brian Greene and Tracy
Day. On the Web: www.worldsciencefestival.com
