The VinFuture Prize is an international award established in Vietnam in 2020 to recognize scientific and technological research. It is presented annually by the VinFuture Foundation. According to the Foundation, the prize aims to support research with the potential to address global challenges in areas such as health, sustainability, and technology.
Establishment
Since 2017,
Vietnam has worked to create a more comprehensive education programme to encourage more individuals to pursue careers in
STEM.This has led to a growth in the number of trained professionals in the field.
Founders
Phạm Nhật Vượng, the founder of
Vingroup, and his wife Phạm Thu Hương established the VinFuture Foundation in 2020. The organization operates as an independent, non-profit entity with the stated mission of recognizing significant innovations in science and technology.
In the same year, they launched the VinFuture Prize, an international award intended to acknowledge contributions in fields such as health, environment, and artificial intelligence. The prize aims to support research addressing global challenges and is open to nominations worldwide.
Prize Council
The Prize Council oversees the evaluation and selection process for the VinFuture Prize, including setting award criteria and choosing Laureates.
The Prize Council is chaired by Sir Richard Henry Friend, Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge,
Members
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Prof. Pascale Cossart, FRS (Pasteur Institute, Paris, France)
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Prof. Van-Chi Dang (Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research & Johns Hopkins University, United States)
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Prof. Soumitra Dutta (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
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Prof. Martin Andrew Green (University of New South Wales, Australia)
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Prof. Daniel Kammen (University of California, Berkeley, United States)
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Prof. Sir Konstantin (Kostya) S. Novoselov, FRS (University of Manchester, United Kingdom; National University of Singapore, Singapore; 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics)
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Prof. Pamela Ronald (University of California, Davis, United States)
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Prof. Daniela Rus (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States)
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Prof. Leslie Valiant, FRS (Harvard University, United States)
Honorary members
Honorary members recognized for strategic advisory roles include:
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Prof. Susan Solomon
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Dr. Xuedong Huang
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Dr. Padmanabhan Anandan
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Prof. Jennifer Tour Chayes
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Prof. Gérard Albert Mourou
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Prof. Micheal Eugene Porter
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Prof. Ha-Van Vu
The VinFuture Prize Pre-Screening Committee
The Pre-Screening Committee is responsible for reviewing and identifying qualified nominations in accordance with the selection criteria set by the Prize Council, and preparing and presenting supporting documents for the shortlist to the Prize Council.
Members
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Prof. Thuc-Quyen Nguyen (University of California, Santa Barbara, United States)
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Prof. Ngoc-Minh Do (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States; VinUniversity, Vietnam)
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Prof. Ana Belén Elgoyhen (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina)
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Dr. Filippo Giorgi (Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy)
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Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim, FRS (Center for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa - CAPRISA, South Africa)
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Prof. Ermias Kebreab (University of California, Davis, United States)
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Dr. Jayshree Seth (3M, Minnesota, United States)
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Prof. Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter (University of Würzburg, Germany)
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Prof. Fiona Watt (European Molecular Biology Organization - EMBO, Germany)
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Prof. Vivian Yam (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PRC)
Honorary members
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Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
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Prof. Mônica Alonso Cotta
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Prof. Alta Schutte
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Prof. Albert P. Pisano
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Prof. Myles Allen
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Mr. Akihisa Kakimoto
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Prof. Duc-Thu Nguyen
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Prof. Molly Shoichet
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Mr. Truong Quoc Hung
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Prof. Trac D. Tran
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Dr. Bui Hai Hung
Award process
Nomination
Nominations are compiled and qualified by the VinFuture Prize Secretariat before the pre-screening round, which includes scientists in
natural science, health science,
agriculture,
earth science, environmental science,
computer science, and
engineering –
technology,
development along with experts in artificial intelligence,
renewable energy,
biotechnology, new materials, environmental conservation, and other fields.
The nominations are evaluated by the VinFuture Prize Pre-screening Committee, based on three core criteria:
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Scientific and technological advancement
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Meaningful changes in people's lives
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Scale of impact and sustainability.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, must be adhered to by the candidates.
Selection
Four scientific discoveries that improve human lives and enhance equitability and sustainability for future generations are selected by the VinFuture Prize Council. A Grand Prize and three special prizes are awarded annually. The prize winners are announced at the VinFuture Prize Award Ceremony.
The Grand Prize awards $3 million in funding, and the special prizes award $500,000 in funding each based on the following criteria:
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Special Prize for an excellent researcher or innovator from a developing-nation institute.
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Special Prize for an outstanding female researcher or innovator.
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Special Prize for groundbreaking discovery or invention in an emerging field of science or technology that has the potential to make a substantial beneficial impact on mankind in the future.
Award ceremony
The VinFuture Sci-Tech Week and
Awards ceremony are held annually, aiming to foster connections between Vietnam's scientific and technological community, and the global community.
The Sci-Tech Week
The VinFuture Sci-Tech Week brings together scientists, politicians, and entrepreneurs from around the world. Scientists will gather in Vietnam to participate in the four main events of the VinFuture Sci-Tech Week: a conversation with the Prize Council and Pre-screening Committee, a "Science for Life" Symposium, the inaugural VinFuture Award Ceremony, and a Scientific Dialogue with the inaugural VinFuture Prize Laureates.
The VinFuture Award Ceremony
The VinFuture Award Ceremony is a formal event attended by Vietnamese government leaders, scientists, and recipients of scientific honors such as the
Nobel Prize, Millennium Technology Prize,
Turing Award, and others. The award ceremony is broadcast live on local as well as global science and technology platforms.
Laureates
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| 20 January 2022 | Grand Prize |
| for making a significant contribution to the development of mRNA vaccine. |
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| Woman Innovator | for research on that can stretch and heal like normal skins while also being biodegradation. |
| Innovators from Developing Countries | Salim Abdool Karim | | for the development of a tenofovir gel that can be used to prevent HIV infection in women. |
| Quarraisha Abdool Karim |
| Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field | for designing and synthesizing new types of reticular compounds such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), and covalent organic frameworks (COFs). |
| 20 December 2022 | Grand Prize | | for ground-breaking research on global network technology, allowing all forms of information to be reliably communicated, transferred, and shared at the speed of light. |
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| Woman Innovator | for breakthroughs in isolating the Sub1A gene, which facilitated the development of submergence tolerant rice varieties, helping feed millions of people in South and Southeast Asia. |
| Innovators from Developing Countries | for development of a low-cost Water filter to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater, helping hundreds of millions of people around the world living with contaminated water get access to Drinking water. |
| Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field | Demis Hassabis | | for pioneering work on AlphaFold 2, an artificial intelligence program that has revolutionized the modeling of protein structures, accelerating advances in biomedicine, health, and agriculture. |
| John Jumper |
| 20 December 2023 | Grand Prize | | for revolutionary innovations that contribute to establishing a sustainable foundation for green energy by utilizing for production and Lithium-ion batteries for storage. |
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| Woman Innovator | for uncovering the mechanism of ozone depletion in Antarctica, which played a key role in the development of the Montreal Protocol. |
| Innovators from Developing Countries | | for their noteworthy efforts in developing and promoting disease-resistant rice varieties, such as IR36 and IR64, thereby safeguarding global food security. |
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| Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field | | for identifying the function of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), leading to the development of widely utilized treatments for diabetes and obesity, and fostering new applications for addressing neurodegenerative diseases. |
| Joel Habener | |
| Svetlana Mojsov |
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| 6 December 2024 | Grand Prize | Yoshua Bengio | | For transformational contributions to the advancement of deep learning. |
| Geoffrey Hinton |
| Jensen Huang | |
| Yann LeCun |
| Fei-Fei Li |
| Woman Innovator | For advancement in design of polymeric biomaterials and methods for biomedical applications. |
| Innovators from Developing Countries | | For innovative improvement of oral cholera vaccination in developing countries. |
| Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field | | For development of CAR T cell therapy for cancer and other diseases. |
| Carl H. June | |
| Michel Sadelain |
Reception
The nominations have received praise from
Richard Friend, Chairman of the VinFuture Prize Council and the Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge.
Nobel Prize Sir Konstantin Novoselov has commented on its "promotion of diversity and inclusion in the global scientific community".
See also
External links
