Thursday, 21 May 2020.  At today’s press conference in Hong Kong, The Shaw Prize Foundation announced the Shaw Laureates for 2020. Information was posted on the website www.shawprize.org at Hong Kong time 15:30 (GMT 07:30).

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 will be the seventeenth year of the awards.

The Shaw Laureates

The Shaw Prize in Astronomy is awarded to

Roger D Blandford
Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, and Professor of Physics and of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Stanford University, USA

for his foundational contributions to theoretical astrophysics, especially concerning the fundamental understanding of active galactic nuclei, the formation and collimation of relativistic jets, the energy extraction mechanism from black holes, and the acceleration of particles in shocks and their relevant radiation mechanisms. Read More

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

Gero Miesenböck
Waynflete Professor of Physiology and Director of the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of Oxford, UK,

Peter Hegemann
Hertie Professor for Neuroscience and Head of the Department of Biophysics, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany and

Georg Nagel
Professor for Molecular Plant-Physiology, Physiological Institute – Department of Neuroscience, University of Würzburg, Germany

for the development of optogenetics, a technology that has revolutionized neuroscience. Read More

The Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences is awarded in equal shares to

Alexander Beilinson
David and Mary Winton Green University Professor, The University of Chicago, USA and

David Kazhdan
Professor of Mathematics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

for their huge influence on and profound contributions to representation theory, as well as many other areas of mathematics. Read More

Background

Established in November 2002 under the auspices of the late Mr Run Run Shaw, the Prize honours individuals, regardless of race, nationality, gender and religious belief, who have achieved significant breakthroughs in academic and scientific research or applications and whose works have resulted in a positive and profound impacts on mankind.

The Shaw Prize is an international award managed and administered by The Shaw Prize Foundation based in Hong Kong. Mr Shaw has also founded two charities, The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong and The Sir Run Run Shaw Charitable Trust, both dedicated to the promotion of education, scientific and technological research, medical and welfare services, and culture and the arts.

22 Apr 2021  Hong Kong  (Revised)