Thursday, 28 October 2021. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its rippling effects on travel and event-related restrictions, the virtual Shaw Prize 2021 Award Ceremony was held today and was livestreamed via the Shaw Prize website. At the ceremony, the Honourable Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Chief Executive of the HKSAR, People’s Republic of China, sent a congratulatory message to the Shaw Laureates.
The Shaw Laureates were selected by the international prize committees and the results were announced at the press conference on 1 June 2021.
Details of the 2021 Shaw Laureates are as follows:
The Shaw Prize in Astronomy is awarded in equal shares to
Victoria M Kaspi
Professor of Physics and Director of McGill Space Institute, McGill University, Canada and
Chryssa Kouveliotou
Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics at George Washington University, USA
for their contributions to our understanding of magnetars, a class of highly magnetized neutron stars that are linked to a wide range of spectacular, transient astrophysical phenomena. Through the development of new and precise observational techniques, they confirmed the existence of neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields and characterized their physical properties. Their work has established magnetars as a new and important class of astrophysical objects.
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The Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine is awarded to
Scott D Emr
Frank HT Rhodes Class of 1956 Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics and Director of the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, Cornell University, USA
for the landmark discovery of the ESCRT (Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport) pathway, which is essential in diverse processes involving membrane biology, including cell division, cell-surface receptor regulation, viral dissemination, and nerve axon pruning. These processes are central to life, health and disease. Read More
The Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences is awarded in equal shares to
Jean–Michel Bismut
Emeritus Professor, Mathematics Department, Université Paris-Saclay, France and
Jeff Cheeger
Silver Professor of Mathematics at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, USA
for their remarkable insights that have transformed, and continue to transform, modern geometry. Read More
The Shaw Prize was established under the auspices of Mr Run Run Shaw in November 2002 to honour individuals, regardless of race, nationality, gender and religious belief, who have recently achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or applications and whose work has resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind. The Shaw Prize consists of three annual prizes: Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences, each bearing a monetary award of US$1.2 million. This is the nineteenth year that the Prize has been awarded.
