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 could be submitted from 9 February to 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 could 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 showed us that a holistic approach is needed 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.
Nominations could be submitted until 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 could submit their proposals until 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 more information on the required nomination criteria and conditions here.
Contact / Enquiries: Dr. Aurélia Robert-Tissot, Foundation Secretary, Tel. 058 484 49 41, aurelia.robert-tissot@sbfi.admin.ch