Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences

The Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences
Awarded for	Global achievement in Basic Sciences
Country	Japan
Presented by	Inamori Foundation
First award	1985
Website	www.kyotoprize.org

The Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences is awarded once a year by the Inamori Foundation. The Prize is one of three Kyoto Prize categories; the others are the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology and the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy. The first Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences was awarded to Claude Elwood Shannon, the “Establishment of Mathematical Foundation of Information Theory”. ^[1] The Prize is regarded as a prestigious award available in fields which are traditionally not honored with a Nobel Prize. ^[2]

Fields

The Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences is awarded on a rotating basis to researchers in the following four fields:

• Mathematical sciences (including pure mathematics)
• Biological sciences (evolution, behavior, ecology, environment)
• Earth and planetary sciences, astronomy and astrophysics
• Cognitive science/Life sciences (molecular biology, cell biology, neurobiology)

Laureates

Source: Kyoto Prize

Biological sciences

Year	Laureate		Country
1986	–	George Evelyn Hutchinson	United States	1903–1991	Outstanding Contribution to Limnology and Community Ecology by Integrative Ecological Niche Theory [3]
1990		Jane Goodall	United Kingdom	born 1934	Long-Term Study of Behavior, Sociology, and Ecology of Chimpanzees in the Wild [4]
1993	–	William Donald Hamilton	United Kingdom	1936–2000	Proposal of Inclusive Fitness and the Establishment of Evolutionary Theory of Sociality and Cooperation [5]
1997		Daniel Hunt Janzen	United States	born 1939	Pioneering Study of Biodiversity in Tropics and Its Maintenance Mechanisms [6]
2001		John Maynard Smith	United Kingdom	1920–2004	Contribution to Evolutionary Biology by Proposing the Idea of the Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS) [7]
2005		Simon Asher Levin	United States	born 1941	Establishment of the field of spatial ecology and the proposition of the biosphere as a "complex adaptive system" [8]
2009		Barbara Rosemary Grant	United Kingdom	born 1936	Demonstrating Rapid Evolution Caused by Natural Selection in Response to Environmental Changes [9] [10]
		Peter Raymond Grant	United Kingdom	born 1936
2013		Masatoshi Nei	United States	born 1931	Research on the Evolution of Biological Populations Using Quantitative Analyses of Genetic Variation and Evolutionary Time [11]
2017		Graham Farquhar	Australia	born 1947	Development of Process-based Models of Photosynthesis and Their Contributions to the Science of Global Environmental Changes [12]
2022		Bryan Grenfell	United States	born 1954	Development of an Innovative Methodology for Integrative Analysis of Pathogen Evolution and Epidemics. [13]

Mathematical sciences

Year	Laureate		Country
1985		Claude Elwood Shannon	United States	1916–2001	Establishment of Mathematical Foundation of Information Theory [14]
1989		Izrail Moiseevich Gelfand	Soviet Union	1913–2009	Outstanding Contribution to Many Fields of Mathematical Sciences, Especially Pioneering Studies in Functional Analysis [15]
1994		André Weil	France	1906–1998	Broad Contribution to the Modern Mathematics, Especially through the Foundational Works in Algebraic Geometry and Number Theory [16]
1998		Kiyoshi Itō	Japan	1915–2008	Fundamental Contribution to the Stochastic Analysis, through His Invention of Stochastic Differential Equations, Which Have Been Applied in Various Sciences [17]
2002		Mikhail Gromov	France	born 1943	Contributions through dramatic developments in a range of mathematical fields by introducing the innovative method of a metric structure for families of various geometrical objects [18]
2006		Hirotsugu Akaike	Japan	1927–2009	Major contribution to statistical science and modeling with the development of the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) [19]
2010		László Lovász	Hungary	born 1948	Outstanding Contributions to Mathematical Sciences Based on Discrete Optimization Algorithms [20]
2014		Edward Witten	United States	born 1951	Outstanding Contributions to the Development of Mathematical Sciences through the Exploration of Superstring Theory [21]
2018		Masaki Kashiwara	Japan	born 1947	Outstanding Contributions to a Broad Spectrum of Modern Mathematics: Advancement of D-module Theory from Its Foundation [22]
2023		Elliott H. Lieb	United States	born 1932	Pioneering Mathematical Research in Physics, Chemistry, and Quantum Information Science Based on Many-Body Physics [23]

Earth and planetary sciences, astronomy and astrophysics

Year	Laureate		Country
1987		Jan Hendrik Oort	Netherlands	1900–1992	Outstanding Contribution to Astronomy by the Elucidation of Structure and Dynamics of the Galaxy [24]
1991		Edward Norton Lorenz	United States	1917–2008	Outstanding Contribution to Earth Science and Mathematical Science by the Development of Theoretical Basis of Numerical Study in Meteorology and the Discovery of Deterministic Chaos [25]
1995		Chūshirō Hayashi	Japan	1920–2010	Outstanding Contribution to Astrophysics through the Theoretical Studies of the Stellar Formation and Evolution and the Formation of Solar System [26]
1999		Walter Heinrich Munk	United States	1917–2019	Outstanding Contribution to the Earth Science by the Elucidation of Dynamical Mechanism of Ocean and Its Waves [27]
2003		Eugene Newman Parker	United States	1927–2022	Contributions to Astrophysics through the Elucidation of the Solar Wind and Cosmical Magnetohydrodynamic Phenomena [28]
2007		Hiroo Kanamori	Japan	born 1936	Elucidation of Physical Processes of Earthquakes and Its Application to Hazard Mitigation [29]
2011		Rashid Alievich Sunyaev	Russia   Germany	born 1943	Proposal of the Theory of Fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation to Explore the Expanding Universe, and Outstanding Contribution to High-Energy Astronomy [30]
2015		Michel Mayor	Switzerland	born 1942	Outstanding Contributions in Evolving a New Vision of the Universe through the Discovery of Extrasolar Planet [31]
2019		James E. Gunn	United States	born 1938	Outstanding Contributions to the Elucidation of Cosmic History Based on a Large-Scale Wide-Field Observation. [32]
2024		Paul F. Hoffman	Canada	born 1941	Proving Snowball Earth Accelerating Life Evolution and Plate Tectonics Dating Back to the First Half of Earth's History. [33]

Life sciences

Year	Laureate		Country
1992		Yasutomi Nishizuka	Japan	1932–2004	Elucidation of Intracellular Signal Transduction System through the Discovery and Functional Analysis of the Protein Kinase C [34]
1996		Mario Renato Capecchi	United States	born 1937	Production of Knockout Mice through the Development of Gene Targeting Technique and Outstanding Contribution to Elucidation of Gene Function [35]
2000		Walter Jakob Gehring	Switzerland	born 1939	Discovery of Conserved Developmental Mechanisms [36]
2004		Alfred G. Knudson	United States	1922–2016	Seminal contribution to the establishment of the theory of the tumor suppressor gene in the mechanism of human carcinogenesis [37]
2008		Anthony James Pawson	Canada   United Kingdom	1952–2013	Proposing and Proving the Concept of Adapter Molecules in the Signal Transduction [38]
2012		Yoshinori Ohsumi	Japan	born 1945	Outstanding Contribution to Elucidating the Molecular Mechanisms and Physiological Significance of Autophagy, a Cellular Adaptive System to Environment [39]
2016		Tasuku Honjo	Japan	born 1942	Discovery of the Mechanism Responsible for the Functional Diversification of Antibodies, Immunoregulatory Molecules and Clinical Applications of PD-1 [40]
2020	No award because of COVID-19 pandemic
2021		Robert G. Roeder	United States	born 1942	Discovery of the Principle of Gene Transcription Mechanisms in Eukaryotes [41]

Cognitive science

Year	Laureate		Country
1988		Avram Noam Chomsky	United States	born 1928	Creation of the Theory of Generative Grammar and Substantial Contribution to the Formation and Development of Cognitive Science [42]

See also

• Kyoto Prize
• Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology
• Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy
• List of Kyoto Prize winners
• List of astronomy awards
• List of biology awards
• List of mathematics awards

References

1. "Claude Elwood Shannon" . Retrieved 17 June 2016.
2. "Kyoto Prize honors achievement and character". USA Today. 11 November 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
3. "George Evelyn Hutchinson". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
4. "Jane Goodall". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
5. "William Donald Hamilton". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
6. "George Evelyn Hutchinson". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
7. "John Maynard Smith". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
8. "Simon Asher Levin". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
9. "Barbara Rosemary Grant". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
10. "Peter Raymond Grant". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
11. "Masatoshi Nei". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
12. Graham Farquhar 2017
13. Bryan T. Grenfell 2022
14. "Claude Elwood Shannon". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
15. "Izrail Moiseevich Gelfand". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
16. "André Weil". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
17. "Kiyosi Itô". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
18. "Mikhael Leonidovich Gromov". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
19. "Hirotugu Akaike". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
20. "László Lovász". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
21. "Edward Witten". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
22. "Masaki Kashiwara". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
23. "Elliott H. Lieb". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
24. "Jan Hendrik Oort". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
25. "Edward Norton Lorenz". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
26. "Chushiro Hayashi". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
27. "Walter H. Munk". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
28. "Eugene Newman Parker". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
29. "Hiroo Kanamori". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
30. "Rashid Alievich Sunyaev". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
31. "Michel Mayor". Inamori Foundation. Archived from the original on 2016-08-23. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
32. James E. Gunn 2019
33. Semeniuk, Ivan (11 November 2024). "Paul Hoffman wins prestigious Kyoto Prize for scientific contribution to snowball Earth hypothesis". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2 May 2025. On Monday, he received the Kyoto Prize in recognition of his achievements.
34. "Yasutomi Nishizuka". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
35. "Mario Renato Capecchi". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
36. "Walter Jakob Gehring". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
37. "Alfred George Knudson, Jr". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
38. "Anthony James Pawson". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
39. "Yoshinori Ohsumi". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
40. "Tasuku Honjo". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
41. "Robert G. Roeder". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
42. "Avram Noam Chomsky". Inamori Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-15.