Kavli Prizes awarded to seven outstanding researchers

In an academic world still dominated by men, I am glad to see as many as four female Kavli Prize winners. I hope that this will serve as an inspiration for young female scientists, says Minister of Education and Research Kristin Halvorsen.

-The Kavli Prize in Astrophysics is awarded to David Jewitt (University of California), Jane Luu (MIT) and Michael Brown (California Institute of Technology). The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience is awarded to Mildred S. Dresselhaus (MIT), while the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience is awarded to Cornelia Bargmann (Rockefeller University), Winfried Denk (Max Planck Institute for Medical Research) and Ann M. Graybiel (McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT).

The winners of this year’s Kavli Prizes have delivered fundamental contributions to our understanding of the outer solar system, the differences in material properties at nano- and larger scales, and how the brain receives and responds to sensations such as sight, sound and touch.

-All seven winners have delivered outstanding results within their fields, and I congratulate them all, says Halvorsen.

The Kavli Prizes are awarded biennially to recognize scientists for their seminal advances in the research areas astrophysics, neuroscience and nanoscience. The Kavli Prize is a partnership between the Kavli Foundation, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. They were awarded for the first time in 2008. This year’s award ceremony will take place on September 4 in Oslo Concert Hall.