Seven scientific pioneers receive the 2012 Kavli Prizes

Last updated: 6/1/2012 // SEVEN pioneering scientists have been named this year's recipients of the Kavli Prizes - prizes that recognize scientists for their seminal advances in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience, and include a cash award of one million dollars in each field.

This year's laureates were selected for making fundamental contributions to our understanding of the outer solar system, the differences in material properties at nano- and larger scales, and how the brain receives and responds to sensations such as sight, sound and touch.

Astrophysics

The Kavli Prize in Astrophysics is shared between David C. Jewitt, University of California, USA, Jane X. Luu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory, USA, and Michael E. Brown, California Institute of Technology, USA. They received the prize "for discovering and characterizing the Kuiper Belt and its largest members, work that led to a major advance in the understanding of the history of our planetary system."

Nanoscience

The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience is given to Mildred S. Dresselhaus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, "for her pioneering contributions to the study of phonons, electron-phonon interactions, and thermal transport in nanostructures."

Neuroscience

The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience is shared between Cornelia Isabella Bargmann, Rockefeller University, USA, Winfried Denk, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Germany, and Ann M. Graybiel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. They received the prize "for elucidating basic neuronal mechanisms underlying perception and decision."

 

For more infromation about the year's laureates, please visit the Kavli website.


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