We are looking for candidates for the prestigious Neuron Awards 2026!

Who will join the honoured figures of Czech science? On 18 February the Neuron Foundation launched the nomination process for the Neuron Awards 2026, which for more than fifteen years have been intended for exceptional scientists with international reach and reputation. Until 25 April 2026, academic institutes, their officers, individuals and former laureates can nominate outstanding scientists who deserve a Neuron Award for their work and research. The award brings not only prestige but, thanks to the foundation's patrons, an individual financial premium as well. Three categories are open.

"It is excellence that moves society forward. Genuinely outstanding scientists bring knowledge and discoveries that have a real impact on health, technology, security and quality of life. At the same time, outstanding scientists often have international experience that they apply in our country, and they attract into their teams young hopes who want to learn from them and be inspired by them. With talented people it is also true that timely support can fundamentally speed up their path to the world's top rank and increase the chance that they will develop their potential in the Czech Republic," says Monika Řasa Vondráková, director of the Neuron Foundation.

The Neuron Award, awards for young scientists and the award for connecting science with business

Nominations for the Neuron Awards 2026 will pass through a demanding filter, including discussion by the scientific council, and the winning laureates will be honoured at a ceremony on 17 January 2027. Nominations for this year's edition are open in three key, well-established categories:

The Neuron Award – the main award, for exceptional scientists whose discoveries or long-term work have fundamentally contributed to the development of science, who strengthen the Czech Republic's name in the world and who are an inspiration to other members of the scientific community.

The Neuron Awards for outstanding young scientists – presented in up to seven fields (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, computer science and the social sciences) to those who obtained their PhD no more than ten years before the nominations were announced.

The Neuron Award for connecting science and business – the award goes to an exceptional achievement in transferring scientific results, from basic research into the applied and commercial sphere. Typically this means patents or the founding of a spin-off company.

Nominations can be submitted until 25 April 2026 through the form on the website /ceny-neuron-2026-nominace by university rectors and deans, directors of academic institutes and institutions, representatives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, members of the Neuron Foundation's scientific council, laureates of previous editions and, in the case of the transfer award, by representatives of research organisations, commercial entities and investors. Precise information can be found on the website.

A precise selection overseen by the scientific and international councils

Over the summer the scientific council will select from the nominations received for the Neuron Award and the Neuron Awards for outstanding young scientists those who will succeed in the main category and in up to seven field categories. "First of all it should be said that nominations are submitted by individuals or organisations; scientists cannot nominate themselves. In all nominations what is key is a fundamental contribution to scientific knowledge, assessed in the context of top-class international research. The award winners should at the same time work in the Czech Republic or have close ties to the Czech scientific environment," says Professor Tomáš Jungwirth, an elite physicist and the new chair of the Neuron Foundation's scientific council.

The laureate of the main Neuron Award, which in the last edition went to Professor Eva Kubala Havrdová for her research into and treatment of multiple sclerosis, receives a reward of CZK 1.5 million. Young scientists receive CZK 500,000 in each field, each of which also has its scientific guarantor. "The awards come with a financial premium, but I believe the main significance lies in the prestige of the Neuron Awards, built up by the Neuron Foundation over more than fifteen years and underlined by the illustrious names of previous laureates. For young scientists the Neuron Award is an important stimulus at a demanding stage of their career, when they are founding or establishing their groups and new directions. Neuron is unique not only in the Czech but also in the international context. The awards and many of Neuron's other activities are funded primarily from the personal resources of patrons whose motivation is respect for scientific knowledge," says Professor Tomáš Jungwirth.

And he explicitly acknowledges the work of his two predecessors: "As chairs of the scientific council, Professors Pavel Hobza and Jan Konvalinka gave Neuron the stamp of the highest international standard."

Neuron's focus on the future and the prosperity of the Czech Republic

The third category open — the Neuron Award for connecting science and business — is intended for those who have achieved something exceptional in moving the results of academic research (from a Czech research organisation) into the commercial sphere and on to actual use. Typically this means granting a licence (to a patent, for instance), a sale, the transfer of know-how or the founding of a spin-off company. This award is decided by the Neuron Foundation's transfer council.

"Science brings knowledge, business brings the ability to put it into practice. Only their combination allows ideas to reach people, patients, companies and society as a whole. Connecting these worlds increases the impact of research, strengthens innovation and helps build a competitive knowledge-based economy," says Jaroslav Řasa, co-founder and member of the board of the Neuron Foundation.

And he adds: "Neuron works to ensure that the Czech Republic is not a country of mediocrity but a country of courage, curiosity and top-class science. We support scientists who improve the world around us — from medicine through technology to understanding society. We believe that investment in science is a strategic investment in the health, prosperity and future of the whole country."