VinFuture foundation officially launches the call for 2022 VinFuture Prize nominations
HANOI, VIETNAM - Media OutReach - 17 February 2022 - The VinFuture Prize has officially opened the nomination
portal for the second season from February 16th until May 17th, 2022. The 2022
season of VinFuture Prizeis looking for scientific inventions and
innovations that can help revive the world and build up sustainable development
after the pandemic.
The
Laureates of the VinFuture Grand Prize 2021
Following the success
of the inaugural VinFuture Prize with 4 honored breakthroughs in science and
technology that can positively impact humanity on a global scale – The second
season of the Prize has been launched and welcomed by the international
community of science.
The focus of the VinFuture Prize's
second season is to honor outstanding scientific innovations that can help
reimagine post-pandemic life and stimulate sustainable development. This
reflects VinFuture's consistent vision and mission of "Science for humanity". If health protection
was the challenge of mankind in 2021, "Reshaping and Reviving" is the imperative that the world
needs to cope with in 2022.
Centering
around the theme of "Reshaping and Reviving", the second season of the
VinFuture Prize hopes to motivate and inspire scientists around the world.
Through the Prizes, VinFuture wishes to support people to overcome topical post-pandemic
challenges and create positive changes for millions of human lives on earth this
year.
Commenting on the outstanding
nominations of 2021 and looking forward to this year's submissions, Prof.
Sir Richard Henry Friend – Chair of the VinFuture Prize Council, said:
"Last year's prize awards celebrate very clearly how science and innovation can
bring real global benefits for health. However, humankind faces big challenges
in many other areas, including natural resource consumption, the move to zero
carbon to avoid damaging climate change, and others. This year we want to reach
as widely as we can, across disciplines and across continents, to broaden the
scope and impact of the VinFuture Prizes in reviving the post-pandemic world."
To be eligible for
participating in the VinFuture Prize 2022, the applications are required to
meet the nomination criteria* and be nominated by reputable
organizations/individuals in the field of science and technology around the
world. Nominations will be evaluated in the pre-screening and selection stages by
the Pre-screening Committee and the VinFuture Prize Council respectively.
Members of the Prize Council and Pre-screening Committee are top global
scientists, inventors and
laureates of the Nobel Prize, Turing Award, Millenium Technology Prize, and
other global awards.
Sharing about the expectations for
the call for nominations of the second VinFuture Prize season, Prof. Văn-Chí
Đặng, Scientific Director of Ludwig Cancer Research Institute (USA) and a
member of the VinFuture Prize Council, said: "Science and technology is
the answer to the challenges and urgent global problems that people are facing.
In order to have more inventions that help change people's lives regardless of
origin, skin color, or ethnicity, for this year's Prize, we expect to receive
more exceptional scientific solutions, in more diverse fields, across more
geographical areas, and from scientists regardless of age, gender, or
nationality,... with the potential for application on a larger scale."
The inaugural VinFuture Prize received tremendous
support from the global scientific and technological community, with 599 quality nominations from
scientists, researchers, and innovators from six continents. The VinFuture Grand Prize, valued at US$ 3
million, was awarded to a group of three scientists: Dr. Katalin Karikó (USA),
Prof. Drew Weissman (USA), and Prof. Pieter Cullis (Canada) for the development
of mRNA technology, paving the way for the production of effective vaccines to
help prevent COVID-19 outbreaks. The VinFuture Special Prize for Innovators
with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Fields was awarded to Prof. Omar
Yaghi (USA) for his pioneering work on the discovery and development of metal-organic
framework materials (MOFs). The VinFuture Special Prize for Female Innovators
was awarded to Prof. Zhenan Bao (USA) for the scientific advancements from her
pioneering work on developing skin-inspired organic electronics materials. The
VinFuture Special Prize for Innovators from Developing countries was granted to
two scientists from South Africa, Prof. Salim Abdool Karim and Prof. Quarraisha
Abdool Karim, whose research helps prevent HIV transmission and lessen the
burden of the AIDS epidemic.
The
first-year VinFuture Prize Laureates were announced at the Award Ceremony on
January 20th, 2022. Information about the awarded innovations can be found
here: https://vinfutureprize.org/laureates/
*The ten major nomination criteria
of the VinFuture Prize are:
1.
There
should be clear evidence, or potential, for an end-product or service based on
the solution, which has an everyday practical application;
2.
Solutions
should have already benefited millions of people in the past 10 years for the
Grand Prize, or have the potential to benefit millions of people in the next 10
years for the Special Prizes;
3.
Solutions
should be aligned with one or more of the United Nation's SDGs;
4.
Solutions
must be scientifically proven (i.e., there should be clear evidence of passing
relevant scientific trials, and in the case of research, it must be empirically
proven or widely reviewed);
5.
Open
to researchers or inventors who were involved in developing the underlying
solutions, and not entrepreneurs or corporates who helped in the commercialization/diffusion
of the technology;
6.
End-products
of the research should benefit people globally, including those from developing
and less developed countries, as well as lower-income and disadvantaged
communities;
7.
Open
to individuals or teams of researchers/inventors;
8.
Preferences
are considered for nominees in the active stages of their careers;
9.
A
nominator can only nominate one nominee/one group of nominees for each of the
four Prize categories.
10. Research/Solution/Invention can be
underpinned in any discipline of science, engineering, or technology, including
potentially multi-disciplinary approaches.
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About VinFuture Foundation:
The VinFuture
Foundation, established on December 20th, 2020 on the occasion of
International Human Solidarity Day, is an independent, not-for-profit
foundation initiated by Mr. Phạm Nhật Vượng, the Chairman of Vingroup JSC,
Vietnam's leading private conglomerate, and his wife, Mrs. Phạm Thu
Hương.
The Foundation
was established to honor and facilitate breakthrough scientific research and
technological innovations that have already contributed or have the potential
to contribute to the betterment of life for millions of human beings globally
while creating a more sustainable world for future generations.
The VinFuture Prize consists of four prize categories, of which the
Grand Prize – with a value of US$3 million – is one of the largest annual
global prizes, and three additional Special Prizes, worth US$500,000
each, are dedicated to Female Innovator(s), Innovator(s) from Developing
Country(ies), and Innovator(s) with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging
Fields.
In addition, the Foundation also conducts many activities to realize its
mission, such as funding research, collaborating in academic development, and
promoting STEM education.