Who are the Czech Republic's outstanding scientists? The nomination process for the Neuron Awards begins
Nominations can be submitted by deans and rectors of public institutions, directors of academic institutes, representatives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, members of Neuron's scientific council and laureates of previous editions. The nomination process runs until the end of March 2020.
For the eleventh time, the Neuron Foundation is opening the nomination process for the prestigious Neuron Awards, which thanks to the foundation's patrons come with a significant personal financial premium for the laureates. The Neuron Awards are the most highly endowed scientific awards in the Czech Republic — this year the foundation will give out up to CZK 8 million. The Czech scientific community submits nominations until the end of March 2020, choosing from scientific names across seven fields. Both the foundation's Czech scientific council, newly joined by the biologist Jiří Friml and the chemist Jan Konvalinka, and an international council composed of outstanding scientists from around the world take part in selecting the final laureates. Laureates receive awards in two categories: the Neuron Award for contribution to world science and the Neuron Award for promising young scientists. The gala announcement will take place in the autumn of 2020. The aim of the Neuron Awards is to raise the prestige of scientists in the Czech Republic.
Nominations can be submitted by deans and rectors of public institutions, directors of academic institutes, representatives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, members of Neuron's scientific council and laureates of previous editions. The nomination process runs until the end of March 2020.
The Neuron Foundation honours the best scientists in seven scientific disciplines — mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, medicine and the social sciences. The foundation's scientific council takes part in the selection. "It is an honour that leading Czech scientists of international standing are newly joining this important body — oversight of the field of biology is taken over by Jiří Friml and his team, himself a Neuron Award laureate. The guarantor for chemistry is the chemist Jan Konvalinka. "Outstanding scientific figures on our scientific councils and their careful work in selecting the laureates give the Neuron Awards the highest reputation and standing in the scientific community," says Monika Vondráková, chair of the board of the Neuron Foundation. The international scientific council, which has taken part in selecting the laureates since 2018, ensures that the laureates are of world standard.
The Neuron Awards will again be presented in the categories for "promising young scientists" to up to seven scientific talents, usually up to the age of 33, and for "contribution to world science". The latter goes to up to three significant scientists working in the Czech Republic or abroad who have fundamentally contributed to the development of science through a world-class discovery or long-term work. "As in previous years, the Neuron Awards again come with personal premiums for the scientists. This year we will again support scientists with a total of up to CZK 8 million from the funds of the foundation's patrons, which makes the Neuron Awards the best endowed scientific awards in the Czech Republic. Over ten years the patrons have contributed CZK 66 million to the Awards," says Monika Vondráková.
Over ten years of its work, thanks to its patrons, the foundation has honoured 85 scientists with Neuron Awards and supported Czech science with a total of CZK 100 million.
