The Novozymes Prize is an annual scientific award. The prize aims to recognise outstanding contributions to the advancement of science within the fields of biotechnology and bioinnovation. [1] [2]
The Novozymes Prize is sponsored by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and acknowledges exceptional European research or technological achievements that contribute to the advancement of innovative and sustainable solutions in biotechnology, benefiting both humanity and the environment. [2] The name originates from the Danish biotechnology company Novozymes, specialising in enzyme production.
The foundation, associated with Novozymes, a global leader in biotechnological solutions and enzyme production, promotes initiatives that drive progress in science and sustainability.
The prize is awarded to individuals or research groups whose work has demonstrated significant impact and innovation in areas such as enzyme technology, industrial biotechnology, and sustainable solutions. Recipients of the Novozymes Prize are selected through a nomination and evaluation process by a committee composed of experts in relevant scientific disciplines. [3]
The Novozymes Prize consists of a monetary award and a commemorative medal. The recipient(s) are invited to deliver a lecture or presentation on their research during a ceremony held in conjunction with the award announcement.
List of recipients of the Novozymes prize over the years: [4]
Year | Recipient |
---|---|
2023 | Anne Osbourn [5] [6] |
2022 | Mark van Loosdrecht [7] |
2021 | Peer Bork [8] |
2020 | Detlef Weigel [9] |
2019 | Dame Carol Robinson [10] [11] |
2018 | Gunnar Von Heijne [12] |
2017 | Emmanuelle Charpentier [13] |
2017 | Virginijus Siksnys [14] |
2016 | Jens Nielsen |
2015 | Bernard Henrissat |
Michael Smith was a British-born Canadian biochemist and businessman. He shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Kary Mullis for his work in developing site-directed mutagenesis. Following a PhD in 1956 from the University of Manchester, he undertook postdoctoral research with Har Gobind Khorana at the British Columbia Research Council in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Subsequently, Smith worked at the Fisheries Research Board of Canada Laboratory in Vancouver before being appointed a professor of biochemistry in the UBC Faculty of Medicine in 1966. Smith's career included roles as the founding director of the UBC Biotechnology Laboratory and the founding scientific leader of the Protein Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence (PENCE). In 1996 he was named Peter Wall Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology. Subsequently, he became the founding director of the Genome Sequencing Centre at the BC Cancer Research Centre.
Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd with production facilities in nine countries and affiliates or offices in five countries. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder Novo Holdings A/S which holds approximately 28% of its shares and a majority (77%) of its voting shares.
Anammox, an abbreviation for "anaerobic ammonium oxidation", is a globally important microbial process of the nitrogen cycle that takes place in many natural environments. The bacteria mediating this process were identified in 1999, and were a great surprise for the scientific community. In the anammox reaction, nitrite and ammonium ions are converted directly into diatomic nitrogen and water.
Biofiltration is a pollution control technique using a bioreactor containing living material to capture and biologically degrade pollutants. Common uses include processing waste water, capturing harmful chemicals or silt from surface runoff, and microbiotic oxidation of contaminants in air. Industrial biofiltration can be classified as the process of utilizing biological oxidation to remove volatile organic compounds, odors, and hydrocarbons.
Carolyn Widney Greider is an American molecular biologist and Nobel laureate. She joined the University of California, Santa Cruz as a Distinguished Professor in the department of molecular, cell, and developmental biology in October 2020.
Novozymes A/S was a global biotechnology company headquartered in Bagsværd, outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. The company's focus was the research, development and production of industrial enzymes, microorganisms, and biopharmaceutical ingredients. The company merged with Chr. Hansen to form Novonesis in January 2024.
Presented annually since 1991, the Stockholm Water Prize is an award that recognizes outstanding achievements in water related activities. Over the past three decades, Stockholm Water Prize Laureates have come from across the world and represented a wide range of professions, disciplines and activities in the field of water.
The biological treatment of wastewater in the sewage treatment plant is often accomplished using conventional activated sludge systems. These systems generally require large surface areas for treatment and biomass separation units due to the generally poor settling properties of the sludge. Aerobic granules are a type of sludge that can self-immobilize flocs and microorganisms into spherical and strong compact structures. The advantages of aerobic granular sludge are excellent settleability, high biomass retention, simultaneous nutrient removal and tolerance to toxicity. Recent studies show that aerobic granular sludge treatment could be a potentially good method to treat high strength wastewaters with nutrients, toxic substances.
Dame Carol Vivien Robinson, is a British chemist and former president of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2018–2020). She was a Royal Society Research Professor and is the Dr Lee's Professor of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, and a professorial fellow at Exeter College, University of Oxford. She is the first director of the Kavli Institution for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, and she was previously professor of mass spectrometry at the chemistry department of the University of Cambridge.
Peer Bork is a German bioinformatician. He is Director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) site in Heidelberg, in south-west Germany.
Steen Riisgaard is the former president and CEO of the Denmark-based biotech company Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes. He held this position from when Novozymes was founded in a demerger from Novo Nordisk in 2000 until he left the company in 2013 when Peder Holk Nielsen became CEO.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology is a Swiss water research institute and an internationally networked institution. As part of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain, it is an institution of the Federal Department of Home Affairs of the Swiss Confederation. The Eawag is based in Dübendorf near Zurich and Kastanienbaum near Lucerne.
Dame Molly Morag Stevens, is Professor of Biomedical Materials and regenerative medicine and Research Director for Biomedical Materials Sciences in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London.
Novo Holdings A/S is the Novo Nordisk Foundation's wholly owned holding company for Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S. Novo Holdings A/S was established in 1999 and manages the Novo Nordisk Foundation's assets, which in 2023 was worth almost DKK 1,114 billion. Danish Kroner and is the largest charitable foundation in the world making Novo Holdings A/S a world-leading life sciences investor. Novo Holdings A/S is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with offices in San Francisco, Boston and Singapore.
Mark van Loosdrecht is a Dutch professor in environmental biotechnology at Delft University of Technology. He was the creator of Nereda, a wastewater treatment technology developed by a cooperation between the Delft University of Technology, the Dutch Foundation for Applied Water Research (STOWA) and Royal HaskoningDHV.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation is an international enterprise foundation focusing on medical treatment and research.
Kasim Kutay is a British fund manager who is the CEO of Danish Novo Holdings A/S, an investment fund that manages investments and assets for the Novo Nordisk Foundation. He holds British citizenship and resides in Denmark.
Drew Weissman is an American physician and immunologist known for his contributions to RNA biology. Weissman is the inaugural Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research, director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation, and professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).
Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen is a Danish businessman, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation and former Executive Vice President of Research & Development, head of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
The Novo Nordisk Prize is an annual award presented to acknowledge exceptional contributions within the fields of medical and health sciences. It is specifically aimed at individuals who have demonstrated outstanding research or innovation that has the potential to advance medical science, particularly in areas related to diabetes, endocrinology, and biopharmaceutical science. The prize is administered by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, an independent Danish foundation with a broad commitment to scientific research and humanitarian objectives.