NWO/Spinoza Prize for miniature laboratories, headache and transitions
11 Jun 2009
On 9 June, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded the NWO/Spinoza Prize for 2009 to three researchers. The prize is the highest Dutch award in science and as such is sometimes referred to as the ‘Dutch Nobel prize'.
The top scientists receive the prestigious prize for their outstanding, pioneering and inspiring research. This year for the first time, each researcher shall receive not 1.5 but 2.5 million euros to spend on research of their choice. The winners of the NWO/Spinoza Prize 2009 are:
- Prof. Albert van den Berg, physicist at the University of Twente. Van den Berg has made key breakthroughs in the understanding and manipulation of fluids in micro- and nanochannels, and the application of this knowledge to areas such as new medical equipment.
- Prof. Michel Ferrari, neurologist at Leiden University Medical Center. Ferrari was the first to identify migraine genes, has developed new drugs to treat migraine attacks and acts as an ambassador for headache patients.
- Prof. Marten Scheffer, aquatic ecologist at Wageningen University and Research Centre. Scheffer has made pioneering contributions to our understanding of critical transitions in complex systems, varying from transitions in shallow lakes to climate change and the collapse of ancient cultures.
Prize awarded through nomination
This is the fifteenth year that the Spinoza Prizes have been awarded. The prize was first handed out in 1995. The awards are made on the basis of nominations. Those allowed to make nominations are the principals of universities, and the chairs of the departments of Literature and Physics of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Netherlands Society of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Dutch National Network of Female Professors, the Social Sciences Council and the NWO Divisional Boards.
Dutch Education Minister Ronald Plasterk will perform the official presentation of the monetary prize and the Spinoza statuette on Wednesday 25 November 2009 in the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague.
Jury reports on winners
Read the jury report on Prof. Albert van den Berg