VinFuture Prize

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VinFuture Prize
Logo VinFuture.jpg
Awarded forScientific discoveries and technological innovations
Country Vietnam
Presented byThe VinFuture Foundation
Reward(s)The VinFuture Grand Prize awards 70 billion VND, approx. 3 million US$ , and three special prizes for Women Innovators, Innovators from Developing Countries, and Emerging Field Innovators - each valued at 500,000 US$ (2021)
First award2021;4 years ago (2021)
Website vinfutureprize.org

The VinFuture Prize is an international award established in Vietnam in 2020 to recognize scientific and technological research. It is presented annually by the VinFuture Foundation. According to the Foundation, the prize aims to support research with the potential to address global challenges in areas such as health, sustainability, and technology. [1]

Contents

Founders

Phạm Nhật Vượng is the founder of Vingroup. In 2020, he and his wife, Phạm Thu Hương, established the VinFuture Foundation. The organization operates as an independent, non-profit entity with the stated mission of recognizing significant innovations in science and technology.[ citation needed ]

In 2020, they also created the VinFuture Prize, an international award intended to acknowledge contributions in fields including health, environment, and artificial intelligence. The prize aims to support research addressing global challenges and is open to nominations worldwide.[ citation needed ]

Prize Council

The Prize Council oversees the evaluation and selection process for the VinFuture Prize, including setting award criteria and choosing Laureates.

The Prize Council is chaired by Sir Richard Henry Friend, Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge, [2] and includes members from international universities and research institutions.

Members

Honorary members

There are 15 honorary members recognized for strategic advisory roles, including [3]

The VinFuture Prize Pre-Screening Committee

The Pre-Screening Committee is responsible for identifying and reviewing qualified nominations based on the selection criteria established by the Prize Council, and for preparing and presenting supporting documents for the shortlist to the Prize Council. [4]

Members

Honorary members

Award process

Nomination

Nominations are compiled and qualified by the VinFuture Prize Secretariat before the pre-screening round, which includes scientists in natural science, health science, agriculture, earth science, environmental science, computer science, and engineering – technology, along with experts in artificial intelligence, renewable energy, biotechnology, new materials, environmental conservation, and other fields.

The nominations are evaluated by the VinFuture Prize Pre-screening Committee, based on three core criteria:

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, must be adhered to by the candidates. [5] [6]

Selection

Four scientific discoveries that improve human lives and enhance equitability and sustainability for future generations are selected by the VinFuture Prize Council. A Grand Prize and three special prizes are awarded annually. The prize winners are announced at the VinFuture Prize Award Ceremony. [7] The Grand Prize awards $3 million in funding, and the special prizes award $500,000 in funding each based on the following criteria: [8]

Award ceremony

The VinFuture Sci-Tech Week and Award Ceremony are held annually, aiming to foster connections between Vietnam's scientific and technological communities, and the global community. [9] [10]

The Sci-Tech Week

The VinFuture Sci-Tech Week brings together scientists, politicians, and entrepreneurs from around the world. Scientists gather in Vietnam to participate in the four main events of the VinFuture Sci-Tech Week: a conversation with the Prize Council and Pre-screening Committee, a "Science for Life" Symposium, the inaugural VinFuture Award Ceremony, and a Scientific Dialogue with the inaugural VinFuture Prize Laureates. [9] [11]

The VinFuture Award Ceremony

The VinFuture Award Ceremony is a formal event attended by Vietnamese government leaders, scientists, and recipients of scientific honors such as the Nobel Prize, Millennium Technology Prize, Turing Award, and others. The award ceremony is broadcast live on local as well as global science and technology platforms. [9]

Laureates

YearCeremony DatePrize nameLaureateNationalityCitation
202120 January 2022Grand Prize Katalin Karikó Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 		for making a significant contribution to the development of mRNA vaccination technology. [12] [13]
Drew Weissman Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Pieter Cullis Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Woman Innovator Zhenan Bao Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States for research on electronic skins that can stretch and heal like normal skins while also being biodegradable. [12] [13]
Innovators from Developing Countries Salim Abdool Karim Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa for the development of a tenofovir gel that can be used to prevent HIV infection in women. [12] [13]
Quarraisha Abdool Karim
Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field Omar M. Yaghi Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States for designing and synthesizing new types of reticular compounds such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), and covalent organic frameworks (COFs). [12] [13]
202220 December 2022Grand Prize Tim Berners-Lee Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom for ground-breaking research on global network technology, allowing all forms of information to be reliably communicated, transferred, and shared at the speed of light. [14]
Vint Cerf Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Emmanuel Desurvire Flag of France.svg  France
Bob Kahn Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
David N. Payne Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Woman Innovator Pamela Ronald Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States for breakthroughs in isolating the Sub1A gene, which facilitated the development of submergence tolerant rice varieties, helping feed millions of people in South and Southeast Asia. [14]
Innovators from Developing Countries Thalappil Pradeep Flag of India.svg  India for development of a low-cost filtration system to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater, helping hundreds of millions of people around the world living with contaminated water get access to clean water. [14]
Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field Demis Hassabis Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom for pioneering work on AlphaFold 2, an artificial intelligence program that has revolutionized the modeling of protein structures, accelerating advances in biomedicine, health, and agriculture. [14]
John Jumper
202320 December 2023Grand Prize Martin Green Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia for revolutionary innovations that contribute to establishing a sustainable foundation for green energy by utilizing solar cells for production and Lithium-ion batteries for storage. [15] [16]
M. Stanley Whittingham Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Rachid Yazami Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco
Akira Yoshino Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
Woman Innovator Susan Solomon Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States for uncovering the mechanism of ozone depletion in Antarctica, which played a key role in the development of the Montreal Protocol. [15] [16]
Innovators from Developing Countries Gurdev Khush Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States for their noteworthy efforts in developing and promoting disease-resistant rice varieties, such as IR36 and IR64, thereby safeguarding global food security. [15] [16]
Võ Tòng Xuân Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam
Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field Daniel J. Drucker Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada for identifying the function of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), leading to the development of widely utilized treatments for diabetes and obesity, and fostering new applications for addressing neurodegenerative diseases. [15] [16]
Joel Habener Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Svetlana Mojsov
Jens Juul Holst Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
20246 December 2024Grand Prize Yoshua Bengio Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada For transformational contributions to the advancement of deep learning.
Geoffrey Hinton
Jensen Huang Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Yann LeCun
Fei-Fei Li
Woman Innovator Kristi Anseth Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States For advancement in design of polymeric biomaterials and methods for biomedical applications.
Innovators from Developing Countries Firdausi Qadri Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh For innovative improvement of oral cholera vaccination in developing countries.
Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Field Zelig Eshhar Flag of Israel.svg  Israel For development of CAR T cell therapy for cancer and other diseases.
Carl H. June Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Michel Sadelain

Reception

The nominations have received praise from Professor Sir Richard Henry Friend, Chairman of the VinFuture Prize Council and the Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge. [17]

Nobel Laureate Sir Konstantin Novoselov has commented on its "promotion of diversity and inclusion in the global scientific community". [18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "A new sci-tech prize for humanity". Nature.
  2. ↑ Davis, Will (26 October 2024). "Prof. Sir Richard Henry Friend: Upcoming VinFuture Prize laureates to bring delightful surprises". TechNode Global.
  3. ↑ "Prize Council Members". VinFuture Prize. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  4. ↑ "The VinFuture Prize Pre-Screening Committee".
  5. ↑ "VinFuture Award Ceremony Week – A gathering of global science quintessences". Taiwan News . 11 January 2022.
  6. ↑ "Funding the Future". CNBC. 29 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "Inaugural VinFuture Prize Award Ceremony – Celebrating 4 Scientific Innovations For Humanity". VinFuture Prize Foundation. 20 December 2021. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021.
  8. ↑ Racoma, J. Angelo (21 December 2020). "Vietnamese billionaire launches VinFuture Prize to support R&D and tech innovations, pledges $4.5M annual funding". TechNode Global.
  9. 1 2 3 "VinFuture Award Ceremony Week – A Gathering Of Global Science Quintessences". VinFuture. 12 January 2022.
  10. ↑ Las, Danny (4 May 2021). "Promoting breakthrough scientific research and technological innovations [Q&A with Vingroup's Dr. Le Mai Lan]". Tech Node.
  11. ↑ "Global scientific luminaries to gather at VinFuture sci-tech week". vietnamnews.vn. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Vietnam awards $3 mln prize to mRNA vaccine researchers". VnExpress . 20 January 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Three scientists with mRNA vaccine technology receive the $3 million VinFuture prize". Tuổi Trẻ (in Vietnamese). 20 January 2022.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Winners of the Second Ever VinFuture Prize Awards Unveiled". VinFuture Foundation. Cision US Inc. Cision PR Newswire. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "VinFuture Prize 2023 honours 4 scientists". VietNamNet . 21 December 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Nhu, Quynh (21 December 2023). "Battery researchers win $3M Vietnamese awards". VnExpress .
  17. ↑ "'Really interesting and exciting nominations' in inaugural year: VinFuture Prize Council Chair".
  18. ↑ "Nobel Prize winner Sir Kostya Novoselov: "VinFuture Prize will contribute to the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the global scientific community"". The Statesman . 16 September 2021.
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