Crafoord Prize

The Crafoord Prize is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger and Anna-Greta Crafoord. It is administered by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The prize is for "international basic research in the disciplines Astronomy, Mathematics, Geosciences, and Biosciences, with particular emphasis on ecology, and rheumatoid arthritis" (the disease from which Holger severely suffered in his last years). According to the Academy, "these disciplines are chosen so as to complement those for which the Nobel Prizes are awarded."

Only one award is given each year, according to a rotating scheme – astronomy and mathematics; then geosciences; then biosciences. A Crafoord Prize is only awarded for arthritis when a committee decides that substantial progress in the field has been made. On Crafoord Day in April, the prize is presented by the King of Sweden, who also presents the Nobel Prize Awards at the ceremony in December. The prize is to fund further research by the prize winner. In 2012 it is US$600,000.

 Winners 

Year Category Image Laureate Nationality Work1982Mathematics 50px Vladimir Arnold Theory of non-linear differential equations 50px|alt= Louis Nirenberg Louis Nirenberg 1983Geosciences Edward Lorenz  Geophysical hydrodynamics— Henry Stommel  1984 Biosciences Daniel Janzen  Co-evolution 1985 Astronomy Lyman Spitzer  Studies of the interstellar medium 1986 Geosciences— Claude Allègre Isotope geochemical relations—  Gerald J. Wasserburg  1987Biosciences— Eugene P. Odum Ecosystem ecology Howard T. Odum 1988Mathematics 50px|alt= Pierre Deligne, seated, facing left and away from the camera Pierre Deligne Algebraic geometry 50px Alexander Grothendieck None 1989 Geosciences 50px|alt= James Van Allen James Van Allen  Exploration of space, the discovery the Van Allen belts1990Biosciences 50px|alt= Paul R. Ehrlich Paul R. Ehrlich  Dynamics and genetics of fragmented populations 50px|alt= Edward Osborne WilsonE.O. Wilson  Theory of island biogeography 1991 Astronomy Allan Rex Sandage  Study of galaxies 1992 Geosciences— Adolf Seilacher  Research into evolution of life1993Biosciences W.D. Hamilton  Theories of kin selection and genetic relationship 50px|alt= Seymour Benzer in his office at Caltech in 1974 with a big model of Drosophila Seymour Benzer  Genetical and neurophysiological studies of fruit flies1994Mathematics— Simon Donaldson  Four-dimensional geometry 50px|alt= Shing-Tung Yau Shing-Tung Yau  Non-linear techniques in differential geometry1995Geosciences— Willi Dansgaard  Development of isotope geological analysis methods Nicholas Shackleton  1996 Biosciences 50px|alt= Robert May Robert M. May  Ecological research 1997Astronomy Fred Hoyle  Study of nuclear processes in stars, stellar evolution— Edwin Salpeter 1998Geosciences— Don L. Anderson Study of the structures and processes in the interior of the Earth— Adam M. Dziewonski 1999 Biosciences 50px|alt= Ernst Mayr in 1994, after receiving an honorary degree at the University of Konstanz Ernst Mayr Developing the concept of evolutionary biology— John Maynard Smith  George C. Williams 2000Polyarthritis— Marc Feldmann Definition of TNF-alpha— Ravinder N. Maini  2001 Mathematics 50px|alt= Alain Connes Alain Connes  Theory of operator algebras, founder of the non-commutative geometry 2002 Geosciences— Dan P. McKenzie  Dynamics of the lithosphere 2003 Biosciences— Carl Woese  Third domain of life2004Polyarthritis— Eugene C. Butcher  Study of molecular mechanisms concerning white blood cells— Timothy A. Springer 2005Astronomy— James E. Gunn  Understanding the large-scale structure of the Universe— James Peebles  50px|alt= Martin Rees delivering a lecture at Jodrell Bank Martin Rees  2006 Geosciences— Wallace S. Broecker  Research into the global carbon cycle 2007 Biosciences— Robert Trivers  Analysis of social evolution2008 Astronomy 50px|alt=Rashid Sunyaev Rashid Alievich Sunyaev  Contributions to high-energy astrophysics and cosmology Mathematics 50px|alt= Maxim Kontsevich Maxim Kontsevich Contributions to mathematics from modern theoretical physics 50px|alt= Edward Witten writing on a blackboard Edward Witten 2009Polyarthritis 50px|alt= Charles Dinarello Charles Dinarello Isolation of interleukins, understanding their role in the onset of inflammatory diseases 50px|alt= Tadamitsu Kishimoto Tadamitsu Kishimoto  50px|alt= Toshio Hirano Toshio Hirano  2010 Geosciences 50px|alt= Walter Munk Walter Munk  “for his pioneering and fundamental contributions to our understanding of ocean circulation, tides and waves, and their role in the Earth’s dynamics”. 2011 Biosciences 50px|alt= Ilkka Hanski Ilkka Hanski  “for his pioneering studies on how spatial variation affects the dynamics of animal and plant populations”.2012 Astronomy— Reinhard Genzel  "for their observations of the stars orbiting the galactic centre, indicating the presence of a supermassive black hole".— Andrea M. Ghez  Mathematics— Jean Bourgain  “for their brilliant and groundbreaking work in harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, ergodic theory, number theory, combinatorics, functional analysis and theoretical computer science".50px|alt=Terence Tao Terence Tao 2013Polyarthritis50px|alt= Peter K. Gregersen Peter K. Gregersen  "for their discoveries concerning the role of different genetic factors and their interactions with environmental factors in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and clinical management of rheumatoid arthritis". 50px|alt= Lars Klareskog Lars Klareskog 50px|alt= Robert J. Winchester Robert J. Winchester  2014 Geosciences— Peter Molnar  "for his ground-breaking contribution to the understanding of global tectonics, in particular the deformation of continents and the structure and evolution of mountain ranges, as well as the impact of tectonic processes on ocean-atmosphere circulation and climate". 2015Biosciences— Richard Lewontin  "for their pioneering analyses and fundamental contributions to the understanding of genetic polymorphism". — Tomoko Ohta 2016 Astronomy 50px| Roy Kerr  "for fundamental work concerning rotating black holes and their astrophysical consequences"  50px|alt=Roger Blandford Roger Blandford Mathematics 50px|alt=Yakov Eliashberg Yakov Eliashberg  "for the development of contact and symplectic topology and groundbreaking discoveries of rigidity and flexibility phenomena"2017Polyarthritis50px|alt=Shimon Sakaguchi Shimon Sakaguchi  "for their discoveries relating to regulatory T cells, which counteract harmful immune reactions in arthritis and other autoimmune diseases." Crafoord Prize 2017 — Fred Ramsdell 50px|alt=Alexander Rudensky Alexander Rudensky 2018Geosciences— Syukuro Manabe  /  "for fundamental contributions to understanding the role of atmospheric trace gases in Earth’s climate system." Crafoord Prize 2018— Susan Solomon  2019 Biosciences — Sallie W. Chisholm  "for the discovery and pioneering studies of the most abundant photosynthesising organism on Earth, Prochlorococcus". Crafoord Prize 20192020 Astronomy 50px|alt=Eugene N. Parker Eugene Parker  "for pioneering and fundamental studies of the solar wind and magnetic fields from stellar to galactic scales". Crafoord Prize 2020 Mathematics 50px|alt=Enrico Bombieri Enrico Bombieri  /  "for outstanding and influential contributions in all the major areas of mathematics, particularly number theory, analysis and algebraic geometry".2021 Polyarthritis 50px|alt=Daniel Kastner Daniel L. Kastner   "for establishing the concept of autoinflammatory diseases".

 References 

Category:Science awards
Category:1980 establishments in Sweden