The Crafoord Prize
Awarded forastronomy and mathematics, biosciences, geosciences or polyarthritis research, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
CountrySweden
Presented byRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences
First awarded1982 (1982)
Websitewww.crafoordprize.se

The Crafoord Prize is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord. The Prize is awarded in partnership between the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Crafoord Foundation in Lund. The Academy is responsible for selecting the Crafoord Laureates.[1] The prize is awarded in four categories: astronomy and mathematics; geosciences; biosciences, with particular emphasis on ecology; and polyarthritis, the disease from which Holger severely suffered in his last years.

According to the Academy, "these disciplines are chosen so as to complement those for which the Nobel Prizes are awarded".[2] Only one award is given each year, according to a rotating scheme – astronomy and mathematics; then geosciences; then biosciences.[2] A Crafoord Prize in polyarthritis is only awarded when a special committee decides that substantial progress in the field has been made.[2] The recipient of the Crafoord Prize is announced each year in mid-January; on Crafoord Days in April or May, the prize is presented by the King of Sweden, who also presents the Nobel Prizes at the ceremony in December.[2][3] As of 2024, the prize money is 6,000,000 kr (or US$700,000).[4] The prize has been compared to the Nobel Prize for its prestige in the geosciences.[5]

The inaugural laureates, Vladimir Arnold and Louis Nirenberg, were cited by the Academy for their work in the field of non-linear differential equations. As of 2022, the winners have predominantly been men. The first woman to be awarded the prize was astronomer Andrea Ghez in 2012.

Laureates

The Crafoord prize has been awarded to the following scientists:[6]

Year Category Image Laureate Nationality Rationale Ref.
1982 Mathematics Vladimir Arnold Vladimir Arnold Russian “for outstanding achievements in the theory of non-linear differential equations” [7][8]
Louis Nirenberg Louis Nirenberg Canadian / American[A] [7][9]
1983 Geosciences — Edward Norton Lorenz American “for fundamental contributions to the field of geophysical hydrodynamics, which in a unique way have contributed to a deeper understanding of the large-scale motions of the atmosphere and the sea” [7][10]
Henry Stommel Henry Stommel American
1984 Biosciences Daniel Janzen Daniel H. Janzen American “for his imaginative and stimulating studies on co-evolution which have inspired many researchers to further work in this field” [7][11]
1985 Astronomy Lyman Spitzer Lyman Spitzer American “for fundamental pioneering studies of practically every aspect of the interstellar medium, culminating in the results obtained using the Copernicus satellite” [7][12]
1986 Geosciences Claude Allègre Claude Allègre French “for pioneering studies of isotope geochemical relations and the geological interpretations that these results permit” [7][13]
— Gerald J. Wasserburg American
1987 Biosciences — Eugene Odum American “for pioneering contributions within the field of ecosystem ecology” [7][14]
— Howard T. Odum American
1988 Mathematics Pierre Deligne, seated, facing left and away from the camera Pierre Deligne Belgian “for fundamental research in algebraic geometry” [7][15]
Alexander Grothendieck French[B] [7][16]
1989 Geosciences James Van Allen James Van Allen American “for his pioneering exploration of space, in particular the discovery of the energetic particles trapped in the geomagnetic field which forms the radiation belts - the Van Allen belts - around the planet Earth” [7][13]
1990 Biosciences Paul R. Ehrlich Paul R. Ehrlich American “for his research on the dynamics and genetics of fragmented populations and the importance of the distribution pattern for their survival probabilities” [7][17]
Edward Osborne Wilson E. O. Wilson American “for the theory of island biogeography and other research on species diversity and community dynamics on islands and in other habitats with differing degrees of isolation” [7][18]
1991 Astronomy — Allan Sandage American “for his important contributions to the study of galaxies, their populations of stars, clusters and nebulae, their evolution, the velocity-distance relation (or Hubble relation), and its evolution over time” [7][19]
1992 Geosciences — Adolf Seilacher German “for his innovative research concerning the evolution of life in interaction with the environment as documented in the geological record” [7][13]
1993 Biosciences — W. D. Hamilton British “for his theories concerning kin selection and genetic relationship as a prerequisite for the evolution of altruistic behavior” [7][20][21]
Seymour Benzer in his office at Caltech in 1974 with a big model of Drosophila Seymour Benzer American “for his pioneering genetical and neurophysiological studies on behavioural mutants in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster” [7][22][23]
1994 Mathematics Simon Donaldson Simon Donaldson British "for his fundamental investigations in four-dimensional geometry through application of instantos in particular his new discovery of new differential invariants" [7][24][25]
Shing-Tung Yau Shing-Tung Yau American[C] “for his development of non-linear techniques in differential geometry leading the solution of several outstanding problems” [7][26]
1995 Geosciences — Willi Dansgaard Danish “for fundamental work on developing and applying isotope geological analysis methods for the study of climatic variations during the Quaternary period” [7][13]
— Nicholas Shackleton British
1996 Biosciences Robert May Robert May Australian “for his pioneering ecological research concerning theoretical analysis of the dynamics of populations, communities and ecosystems” [7][27]
1997 Astronomy Fred Hoyle Fred Hoyle British “for pioneering contributions to the study of nuclear processes in stars and stellar evolution” [7][28]
— Edwin Ernest Salpeter American [7][29]
1998 Geosciences Don L. Anderson Don L. Anderson American “for fundamental contributions to our knowledge of the structures and processes in the interior of the Earth” [7][22]
Adam Dziewoński Adam M. Dziewonski Polish / American[D] [7][30]
1999 Biosciences Ernst Mayr Ernst Mayr American “for fundamental contributions to the conceptual development of evolutionary biology” [7][31]
John Maynard Smith British
— George Christopher Williams American
2000 Polyarthritis — Marc Feldmann British “for identification of TNF blockade as an effective therapeutic principle in rheumatoid arthrits” [3][7]
Ravinder N. Maini Ravinder N. Maini British
2001 Mathematics Alain Connes Alain Connes French “for penetrating work on the theory of operator algebras and for having been a founder of non-commutative geometry” [7][32]
2002 Geosciences — Dan McKenzie British “for fundamental contributions to the understanding of the Dynamics of the Lithosphere, particularly Plate Tectonics, Sedimentary Basin Formation and Mantle Melting” [7][33][34]
2003 Biosciences Carl Woese Carl Woese American “for his discovery of a third domain of life” [7][35][36]
2004 Polyarthritis — Eugene C. Butcher American “for their studies of the molecular mechanisms involved in migration of white blood cells in health and disease” [7][37]
— Timothy A. Springer American
2005 Astronomy James E. Gunn James E. Gunn American “for contributions towards understanding the large-scale structure of the Universe” [7][22]
James Peebles James Peebles American [7][38]
Martin Rees delivering a lecture at Jodrell Bank Martin Rees British
2006 Geosciences Wallace Smith Broecker Wallace Smith Broecker American “for his innovative and pioneering research on the operation of the global carbon cycle within the ocean – atmosphere – biosphere system, and its interaction with climate” [7][39]
2007 Biosciences — Robert Trivers American “for his fundamental analysis of social evolution, conflict and cooperation” [7][40]
2008 Astronomy Rashid Sunyaev Rashid Alievich Sunyaev Russian “for his decisive contributions to high energy astrophysics and cosmology, in particular processes and dynamics around black holes and neutron stars and demonstration of the diagnostic power of structures in the background radiation” [7][41]
Mathematics Maxim Kontsevich Maxim Kontsevich Russian[E] “for their important contributions to mathematics inspired by modern theoretical physics” [7][42]
Edward Witten writing on a blackboard Edward Witten American
2009 Polyarthritis Charles Dinarello Charles Dinarello American “for their pioneering work to isolate interleukins, determine their properties and explore their role in the onset of inflammatory diseases” [7][43]
Tadamitsu Kishimoto Tadamitsu Kishimoto Japanese
Toshio Hirano Toshio Hirano Japanese
2010 Geosciences Walter Munk Walter Munk American “for his pioneering and fundamental contributions to our understanding of ocean circulation, tides and waves, and their role in the Earth’s dynamics” [7][22]
2011 Biosciences Ilkka Hanski Ilkka Hanski Finnish "for his pioneering studies on how spatial variation affects the dynamics of animal and plant populations" [7][44]
2012 Astronomy Reinhard Genzel Reinhard Genzel German "for their observations of the stars orbiting the galactic centre, indicating the presence of a supermassive black hole" [7][45]
Andrea Ghez Andrea M. Ghez American
Mathematics Jean Bourgain Jean Bourgain Belgian "for their brilliant and groundbreaking work in harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, ergodic theory, number theory, combinatorics, functional analysis and theoretical computer science" [7][46]
Terence Tao Terence Tao Australian / American
2013 Polyarthritis Peter K. Gregersen Peter K. Gregersen American "for their discoveries concerning the role of different genetic factors and their interactions with environmental factors in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and clinical management of rheumatoid arthritis" [7][47]
Lars Klareskog Lars Klareskog Swedish
Robert J. Winchester Robert J. Winchester [de] American
2014 Geosciences — Peter Molnar American "for his ground-breaking contribution to the understanding of global tectonics, in particular the deformation of continents and the structure and evolution of mountain ranges, as well as the impact of tectonic processes on ocean-atmosphere circulation and climate" [7][48]
2015 Biosciences — Richard Lewontin American "for their pioneering analyses and fundamental contributions to the understanding of genetic polymorphism" [7][49]
Tomoko Ohta Tomoko Ohta Japanese
2016 Astronomy Roy Kerr Roy Kerr New Zealand "for fundamental work concerning rotating black holes and their astrophysical consequences" [50][51]
Roger Blandford Roger Blandford American
Mathematics Yakov Eliashberg Yakov Eliashberg American[F] "for the development of contact and symplectic topology and groundbreaking discoveries of rigidity and flexibility phenomena"
2017 Polyarthritis Shimon Sakaguchi Shimon Sakaguchi Japanese "for their discoveries relating to regulatory T cells, which counteract harmful immune reactions in arthritis and other autoimmune diseases" [52]
Fred Ramsdell Fred Ramsdell American
Alexander Rudensky Alexander Rudensky American[G]
2018 Geosciences Syukuro Manabe Syukuro Manabe Japanese / American "for fundamental contributions to understanding the role of atmospheric trace gases in Earth’s climate system" [53]
Susan Solomon Susan Solomon American
2019 Biosciences Sallie W. Chisholm Sallie W. Chisholm American "for the discovery and pioneering studies of the most abundant photosynthesising organism on Earth, Prochlorococcus" [54]
2020 Astronomy Eugene N. Parker Eugene N. Parker American "for pioneering and fundamental studies of the solar wind and magnetic fields from stellar to galactic scales" [55]
Mathematics Enrico Bombieri Enrico Bombieri Italian / American "for outstanding and influential contributions in all the major areas of mathematics, particularly number theory, analysis and algebraic geometry"
2021 Polyarthritis Daniel Kastner Daniel L. Kastner American "for establishing the concept of autoinflammatory diseases" [56]
2022 Geosciences Andrew K. Knoll Andrew H. Knoll American "for fundamental contributions to our understanding of the first three billion years of life on Earth and life’s interactions with the physical environment through time" [57]
2023 Biosciences — Dolph Schluter Canadian "for fundamental contributions to the understanding of adaptive radiation and ecological speciation" [58]
2024 Astronomy — Douglas Gough British "for developing the methods of asteroseismology and their application to the study of the interior of the Sun and of other stars" [59]
Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard Danish
Conny Aerts Conny Aerts Belgian
Mathematics Claire Voisin Claire Voisin French "for outstanding contributions to complex and algebraic geometry, including Hodge theory, algebraic cycles, and hyperkähler geometry"

Notes

A Nirenberg was born in Canada.[9]

B Grothendieck was born in Germany, but spent most of his life in France ; he was legally stateless till 1971, then acquired French citizenship. He also declined his prize.[16]

C Shing-Tung Yau was born in China.[60]

D Dziewonski was born in Poland.[30]

E Kontsevich was born in Russia.[42]

F Eliashberg was born in Russia.[51]

G Rudensky was born in Russia.[61]

See also

References

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  54. ^ Crafoord Prize 2019 Crafoordprize.se
  55. ^ Crafoord Prize 2020 Crafoordprize.se
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  57. ^ Crafoord Prize 2022
  58. ^ Crafoord Prize 2023
  59. ^ Crafoord Prize 2024
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