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17/06/24 10:52 AM IST

Kavli Prize

In News
  • The winners of the 2024 Kavli Prize (not to be confused with the Kavli Medal) were announced recently. 
  • Eight winners were awarded for their contributions to astrophysics, neuroscience, and nanoscience.
Fred Kavli
  • The Kavli Prize is awarded in honour of Norwegian-American businessman and philanthropist Fred Kavli (1927-2013).
  • Born in Erejsford, Norway, Kavli moved to California in 1956 after getting an engineering degree. In the US, he began working for a company which built high-tech sensors for missiles, becoming its chief engineer within a year.
  • In 1958, he started his own enterprise, founding Kavlico.
  • Today, the company is a leading manufacturer of pressure sensors and related systems, which are used in all kinds of industries, from aviation to home appliances.
  • Kavlico’s pressure transducers (devices which convert pressure into an electric signal) are known for their high accuracy, stability, and reliability.
  • In 2000, Kavli sold his company for $ 340 million, and established the Kavli Foundation, with the aim to support wide-ranging basic research to improve the quality of life for people worldwide.
  • The foundation runs 20 institutes which specialise in astrophysics, neuroscience, nanoscience, and theoretical physics.
  • The Kavli Prizes are awarded in three areas: astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience — the largest, the smallest, and the most complex.
Kavli prize
  • The inaugural prize was announced in 2008, and awarded to seven scientists.
  • Till date, 73 scientists from 19 countries have been honoured with the biennial award. Ten of them have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.
  • In fact, the Kavli Prize was designed to be like the Nobel in the fields of astrophysics, neuroscience, and nanoscience.
  • But it is more far-reaching in its outlook.
  • As per the will of Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize is only awarded for achievements made “during the preceding year”.
  • But the Kavli Prize does not operate under such a restriction.
  • The prize comprises a $1 million cash prize (per field), a scroll, and a medal, 7 cm in diameter.
  • The award ceremony is more flamboyant than the one for the Nobel, with a red carpet rolled out for invitees.
  • Along with the US-based Kavli Foundation, the prize is given in partnership with the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
Winners in 2024
  • ASTROPHYSICS: This year’s prize for astrophysics has been awarded to David Charbonneau of Harvard University, and Sara Seager, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • The duo have been recognised for discoveries of exoplanets, and the characterisation of their atmosphere.
  • The citation states that the contributions of Charbonneau and Seager included pioneering “methods for the detection of atomic species in planetary atmospheres and the measurement of their thermal infrared emission, thus setting the stage for finding the molecular fingerprints of atmospheres around both giant and rocky planets”
  • NANOSCIENCE: Robert Langer of MIT, Armand Paul Alivisatos of the University of Chicago, and Chad Mirkin of Northwestern University were given the prize for nanoscience.
  • Langer was recognised for his breakthrough idea of nano-engineering a material for the controlled release of therapeutic bio-molecules, which could help the development of controlled drug delivery systems to treat diseases like aggressive brain cancer, prostate cancer and schizophrenia.
Source- Indian Express

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