The first batch of awards was announced on Wednesday by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi). The awards, for transforming human knowledge in the fields of nanoscience, neuroscience and astrophysics, went to scientists in the US, the UK, Japan and Sweden.
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," announced the academy. Each award is worth USD 1 million and they'll be formally presented in Oslo on September 9.
The first Kavli Prize in astrophysics was awarded jointly to Maarten Schmidt of the California Institute of Technology and Donald Lynden-Bell, of Cambridge University. Louis E. Brus, of Columbia University in New York and Sumio Iijima of Meijo University in Japan shared the nanoscience prize, while the neuroscience prize went to three scientists: Pasko Rakic, of the Yale University School of Medicine, Thomas Jessell, also of Columbia University in New York and Sten Grillner of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
Norway's 'new Nobel'
The 80-year-old Kavli, who emigrated from Norway to the US in 1958, has been called "the new Alfred Nobel." The son of farmers from Romsdal, he's now using his fortune to fund research institutes and the three new Kavli prizes, which are to be awarded every other year.
Kavli was educated as a civil engineer at Norway's technical university now known as NTNU in Trondheim. He also has financed several "Kavli Institutes" at leading universities including Harvard, Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to foster scientific research.
Kavli told Aftenposten's weekly magazine recently that he thinks technological development will continue at an even faster tempo than it has in recent years, and he wants to usher it along. Nano-technology and astrophysics, he believes, have enormous potential for human health and welfare and human energy needs. Neuroscience, and increased understanding of how the brain functions, will also play a decisive role.
"I wish I could live forever," he told Aftenposten. "It's going to be exciting to see where technology takes us."
