Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize: the nomination procedure begins

Bern, 09.02.2021 - Every year since 1920, the Marcel Benoist Foundation has awarded the Swiss Science Prize. This year, the CHF 250,000 will be awarded in the field of humanities and social sciences. Nominations can be submitted from now until 15 April.

The Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize is Switzerland’s most important research prize. It honours scientists whose work is of relevance to all aspects of human life and society. The research must be of excellent quality, as well as being original, innovative and topical. Eleven winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, the most recent being Professor Michel Mayor of the University of Geneva in 2019.

After the Marcel Benoist prize was awarded in the fields of biology and medicine in 2020, nominations may be submitted in 2021 for outstanding research achievements in humanities and social sciences. Swiss President Guy Parmelin, Chairman of the Marcel Benoist Foundation, emphasises the contribution that the humanities and social sciences have on current social issues: “The Corona year has once again shown us that a holistic approach needs to be followed to deal with crises. The response to such a far-reaching crisis calls for a combination of measures, often based on research in the field of humanities and social sciences. I look forward to receiving many compelling nominations.”

After the turbulent year of the foundation’s centenary in 2020 and the cancellation of the awards ceremony due to the pandemic, President Parmelin is looking forward to holding a joint award ceremony of the Benoist and Latsis foundations for the 2020 and 2021 prizewinners this year, hopefully on 4 November 2021 in Bern. The winner of the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize will be presented to the public in September 2021.  

Submit your nomination between now and 15 April

The Marcel Benoist Foundation has given the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) the task, with the support of the Confederation, of evaluating all the nominees and selecting the winner for the attention of the Board of Trustees. Researchers and representatives of institutions of higher education, research institutions and other public or private institutions may submit their proposals by 15 April. Potential nominees include researchers who live in Switzerland and work at least 50% at a Swiss research institution. The majority of the relevant research work must have been carried out while working in Switzerland. You will find all nomination information on the website of the Marcel Benoist Foundation.

Nominations can be submitted from now until 15 April on the website of the Marcel Benoist Foundation: https://marcel-benoist.ch/en/nomination-2021


Address for enquiries

Dr Aurélia Robert-Tissot
Foundation Secretary
058 484 49 41
aurelia.robert-tissot@sbfi.admin.ch



Publisher

Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
http://www.wbf.admin.ch

https://www.admin.ch/content/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-82277.html