VinFuture Prize
Prizes established by Phạm Nhật Vượng in 2020
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The VinFuture Prize is an annual international award established in 2020 by the Vietnam-based VinFuture Foundation. The foundation aims to promote research in health, technology, and sustainability.[1]
| VinFuture Prize | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Awarded for | Scientific discoveries and technological innovations |
| Country | Vietnam |
| Presented by | The VinFuture Foundation |
| Rewards | The VinFuture Grand Prize awards 70 billion VND, approx. 3 million US$, and three special prizes for Women Innovators, Innovators from Developing Countries, and Emerging Field Innovators - each valued at $500,000 US (2021) |
| First award | 2021 |
| Website | vinfutureprize |
Founders
The VinFuture Foundation was founded in 2020 by Phạm Nhật Vượng (founder of Vingroup) with his wife, Phạm Thu Hương.[2] The organization operates as an independent nonprofit entity with the stated mission of recognizing research in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).[3][4]
Prize Council
The VinFuture Foundation Prize Council is responsible for setting criteria, evaluating laureates, and selecting winners in recognition of research that "has or will have the potential to bring solutions that can be applied to the everyday life of ordinary people."[5]
The Prize Council is chaired by Sir Richard Henry Friend, the Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge,[6] and includes members from international universities and research institutions.
Members
- Prof. Pascale Cossart, FRS (Pasteur Institute, Paris, France)
- Prof. Van-Chi Dang (Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research; Johns Hopkins University, United States)
- Prof. Martin Andrew Green (University of New South Wales, Australia)
- Prof. Daniel Kammen (University of California, Berkeley, United States)
- Prof. Sir Konstantin (Kostya) S. Novoselov, FRS (University of Manchester, United Kingdom)
- Prof. Thalappil Pradeep, (Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India)
- Prof. Pamela Ronald (University of California, Davis, United States)
- Prof. Daniela Rus (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States)
- Prof. Leslie Gabriel Valiant, FRS (Harvard University, United States)
Honorary members
There are 15 honorary members recognized for strategic advisory roles, including Prof. Susan Solomon, Prof. Albert P. Pisano, Dr. Xuedong Huang, Prof. Myles Allen, Prof. Jennifer Tour Chayes, Prof. Gérard Albert Mourou, Prof. Michael Eugene Porter, and Prof. Soumitra Dutta.[7]
The VinFuture Prize Pre-Screening Committee
The Pre-Screening Committee is responsible for identifying and reviewing qualified nominees based on the selection criteria established by the Prize Council, as well as preparing and presenting supporting documents for the shortlist to the Prize Council.[8]
Members
- Prof. Thuc-Quyen Nguyen (University of California, Santa Barbara, United States)
- Prof. Ngoc-Minh Do (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States; VinUniversity, Vietnam)
- Prof. Ana Belén Elgoyhen (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- Dr. Filippo Giorgi (Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy)
- Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim, FRS (Center for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, South Africa)
- Prof. Ermias Kebreab (University of California, Davis, United States)
- Dr. Jayshree Seth (3M, Minnesota, United States)
- Prof. Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter (University of Würzburg, Germany)
- Prof. Fiona Watt (European Molecular Biology Organization, Germany)
- Prof. Vivian Yam (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PRC)
Honorary members
- Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
- Prof. Mônica Alonso Cotta
- Prof. Alta Schutte
- Prof. Albert P. Pisano
- Prof. Myles Allen
- Mr. Akihisa Kakimoto
- Prof. Duc-Thu Nguyen
- Prof. Molly Shoichet
- Mr. Truong Quoc Hung
- Prof. Trac D. Tran
- Dr. Bui Hai Hung
Award process
Nomination
Nominations are compiled and qualified by the VinFuture Prize Secretaries before the pre-screening round, which includes experts in natural science, health science, earth science, environmental science, computer science, material science, engineering, agriculture, technology, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, biotechnology, environmental conservation, and other fields.
The nominations are evaluated by the VinFuture Prize Pre-Screening Committee, based on three core criteria:
- Scientific and technological advancement
- Meaningful changes in people's lives
- Scale of impact and sustainability
Candidates must adhere to the List of 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.[9][10]
Selection
Four scientific discoveries that improve human lives and enhance fairness and sustainability for future generations have been 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.[11] The Grand Prize awards $3 million in funding, and the special prizes award $500,000 in funding to each winner based on the following categories:[12]
- Special Prize for an excellent researcher or innovator from a developing-nation institute.
- Special Prize for an outstanding female researcher or innovator.
- 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 Award Ceremony are held annually, aiming to foster connections between Vietnam's scientific and technological communities and the global community.[13][14]
Performers
VinFuture has invited international artists to perform, with the performance being broadcast on VTV (Vietnam Television).
| Year of ceremony | Artist | Performed work | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | John Legend[15] | "You Deserve It All" "All of Me" "Imagine" |
Hanoi | Hanoi Opera House |
| 2022 | Christina Aguilera[16] | "Beautiful" "The Voice Within" "A Million Dreams" | ||
| 2023 | Katy Perry[17] | "Unconditionally" "Roar" "Firework" |
Hồ Gươm Opera | |
| 2024 | Imagine Dragons[18] | "Believer" "Whatever It Takes" "Walking the Wire" | ||
| 2025 | Alicia Keys[19] | "If I Ain't Got You"
"Girl On Fire" "Good Job" |
The Sci-Tech Week
The VinFuture Sci-Tech Week brings together scientists, politicians, and entrepreneurs from around the world. Scientists 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.[13][20]
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 and global science and technology platforms.[13]
Laureates
| Year | Ceremony Date | Prize name | Laureate | Nationality | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 January 2022 | Grand Prize | Katalin Karikó |  Hungary United States |
Significant contributions to the development of mRNA vaccination technology.[21][22] |
| Drew Weissman | United States | ||||
| Pieter Cullis |  Canada | ||||
| Woman Innovator | Zhenan Bao | United States | Research on electronic skins that can stretch and heal like normal skins while also being biodegradable.[21][22] | ||
| Innovators from Developing Countries | Salim Abdool Karim |  South Africa |
Development of a tenofovir gel that can be used to prevent HIV infection in women.[21][22] | ||
| Quarraisha Abdool Karim | |||||
| Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field | Omar M. Yaghi | United States | Designing and synthesizing new types of reticular compounds such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), and covalent organic frameworks (COFs).[21][22] | ||
| 2022 | 20 December 2022 | Grand Prize | Tim Berners-Lee |  United Kingdom |
Ground-breaking research on global network technology, allowing all forms of information to be reliably communicated, transferred, and shared at the speed of light.[23] |
| Vint Cerf | United States | ||||
| Emmanuel Desurvire |  France | ||||
| Bob Kahn | United States | ||||
| David N. Payne | United Kingdom | ||||
| Woman Innovator | Pamela Ronald | United States | 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.[23] | ||
| Innovators from Developing Countries | Thalappil Pradeep |  India | Development of a low-cost filtration system 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 clean water.[23] | ||
| Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field | Demis Hassabis | United Kingdom |
Pioneering work on AlphaFold 2, an artificial intelligence program that has revolutionized the modeling of protein structures, accelerating advances in biomedicine, health, and agriculture.[23] | ||
| John Jumper | |||||
| 2023 | 20 December 2023 | Grand Prize | Martin Green |  Australia |
Revolutionary innovations that contribute to establishing a sustainable foundation for green energy by utilizing solar cells for production and Lithium-ion batteries for storage.[24][25] |
| M. Stanley Whittingham | United States | ||||
| Rachid Yazami |  Morocco | ||||
| Akira Yoshino |  Japan | ||||
| Woman Innovator | Susan Solomon | United States | Uncovering the mechanism of ozone depletion in Antarctica, which played a key role in the development of the Montreal Protocol.[24][25] | ||
| Innovators from Developing Countries | Gurdev Khush | United States |
Noteworthy efforts in developing and promoting disease-resistant rice varieties, such as IR36 and IR64, thereby safeguarding global food security.[24][25] | ||
| Võ Tòng Xuân |  Vietnam | ||||
| Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field | Daniel J. Drucker | Canada |
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.[24][25] | ||
| Joel Habener | United States | ||||
| Svetlana Mojsov | |||||
| Jens Juul Holst |  Denmark | ||||
| 2024 | 6 December 2024 | Grand Prize | Yoshua Bengio | Canada |
Transformational contributions to the advancement of deep learning. |
| Geoffrey Hinton | |||||
| Jensen Huang | United States | ||||
| Yann LeCun | |||||
| Fei-Fei Li | |||||
| Woman Innovator | Kristi Anseth | United States | Advancement in design of polymeric biomaterials and methods for biomedical applications. | ||
| Innovators from Developing Countries | Firdausi Qadri |  Bangladesh |
Innovative improvement of oral cholera vaccination in developing countries. | ||
| Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field | Zelig Eshhar |  Israel |
Development of CAR T cell therapy for cancer and other diseases. | ||
| Carl H. June | United States | ||||
| Michel Sadelain | |||||
| 2025 | 5 December 2025 | Grand Prize | Douglas R. Lowy | United States |
Discoveries and development of HPV vaccines for prevention of tumors caused by human papillomaviruses.[26] |
| John T. Schiller | |||||
| Aimée R. Kreimer | |||||
| Maura L. Gillison | |||||
| Woman Innovator | Mary-Claire King | United States |
Identification of the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1, laying the foundation for genetic testing, screening programmes, and personalised treatment.[26] | ||
| Innovators from Developing Countries | Esperanza Martínez-Romero |  Mexico |
Advances in microbial ecology and symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the tropics.[26] | ||
| Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field | Venkatesan Sundaresan | United States |
Innovations in the development of clonal hybrid crops.[26] | ||
| Imtiyaz Khanday | |||||
| Raphaël Mercier |  Germany | ||||
| Emmanuel Guiderdoni | France | ||||
| Delphine Mieulet |
Reception
The nominations have received praise from Sir Richard Henry Friend, the Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge.[27]
Nobel Laureate Sir Konstantin Novoselov has commented on VinFuture Prize's "promotion of diversity and inclusion in the global scientific community".[28]
