Tuesday, 27 September 2016. At today’s presentation ceremony of The Shaw Prize at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Honourable C Y Leung, Chief Executive of the HKSAR, People’s Republic of China, presented the awards to the five Laureates and a representative of one of the Laureates.

After several months of deliberation, the international prize committee selected the Shaw Laureates and announced the results at the press conference on 31 May 2016.

Details of this year’s Shaw Laureates are as follows:

The Shaw Prize in Astronomy is awarded in equal shares to

Ronald W P Drever
Professor of Physics, Emeritus, California Institute of Technology, USA

Kip S Thorne
Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, California Institute of Technology, USA and

Rainer Weiss
Professor Emeritus in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

for conceiving and designing the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), whose recent direct detection of gravitational waves opens a new window in astronomy, with the first remarkable discovery being the merger of a pair of stellar mass black holes.

The Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine is awarded in equal shares to

Adrian P Bird
Buchanan Professor of Genetics, University of Edinburgh, UK and

Huda Y Zoghbi
Professor of Pediatrics & Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Director of Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA

for their discovery of the genes and the encoded proteins that recognize one chemical modification of the DNA of chromosomes that influences gene control as the basis of the developmental disorder Rett syndrome.

The Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences is awarded to

Nigel J Hitchin
Savilian Professor of Geometry, Oxford University, UK

for his far-reaching contributions to geometry, representation theory and theoretical physics. The fundamental and elegant concepts and techniques that he has introduced have had wide impact and are of lasting importance.

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. The monetary award for each prize has been increased from US$1 million to US$1.2 million starting from this year. This is the thirteenth year that the Prize has been awarded.

Highlight of the 2016 ceremony will be released worldwide via satellite between Hong Kong time 2230–2300 (GMT 1430–1500) (satellite feed table attached). Photographs will be uploaded the same day at Hong Kong time 2230 (GMT 1430) on the website www.shawprize.org. The ceremony programme will be broadcast on HKTVB Jade and Pearl Channels on 1 October at Hong Kong time 2230–2305 and on 3 October at Hong Kong time 1855–1925 respectively.

27 September 2016   Hong Kong