VinFuture announces the list of award council season 4, 2024

VinFuture Foundation announced the list of VinFuture Prize Council 2024 with 11 members who are scientists with many achievements contributing to humanity. 3 new faces joining the prize council this year were honored in the previous season.

The list of the VinFuture 2024 Prize Council includes 11 members. Chairman of the Council: Professor Sir Richard Henry Friend, FRS - University of Cambridge, UK, Millennium Technology Award 2010. Professor Pascale Cossart - Pasteur Institute Paris, France. Professor Dang Van Chi - Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Johns Hopkins University, USA. Professor Soumitra Dutta - University of Oxford, UK. Professor Martin Andrew Green - University of New South Wales, Australia, Millennium Technology Award 2022, VinFuture Main Prize 2023. Also included are Dr. Xuedong David Huang - Zoom Group, USA. Professor Daniel Merson Kammen - University of California, Berkeley, USA. Professor Sir Konstantin (Kostya) S. Novoselov, FRS - University of Manchester, UK and National University of Singapore, Singapore, Nobel Prize in Physics 2010. Professor Pamela Christine Ronald - University of California, Davis, USA, Wolf Prize in Agriculture and VinFuture Special Prize 2022. Professor Susan Solomon - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, Volvo Environment Prize 2009 and VinFuture Special Prize 2023. Professor Leslie Gabriel Valiant, FRS - Harvard University, USA, AM Turing Award 2010. The members of the 2024 prize committee are all outstanding and veteran scientists, and most of them have accompanied VinFuture through many impressive seasons. This year, the prize committee welcomes three new members: Prof. Martin Andrew Green (University of New South Wales, Australia, VinFuture Main Prize 2023), Prof. Pamela Christine Ronald (University of California, Davis, USA, VinFuture 2022 special prize for female scientists), Prof. Susan Solomon (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, VinFuture 2023 special prize for female scientists).

Professor Martin Andrew Green, Professor of Science and Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics at the University of New South Wales (Australia), main prize winner of VinFuture 2023, new member of the VinFuture Prize Council.

Among them, Prof. Martin Andrew Green is currently a professor of science and founding director of the Center for Advanced Photovoltaics at the University of New South Wales, Australia. With the breakthrough in the invention of Passive Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC) technology, the research team he leads has held the record for improving the energy conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells for three decades, considered one of the 10 most important milestones in the history of solar photovoltaics. In 2021, PERC solar cells accounted for 91.2% of the world's silicon solar module production, thereby becoming a key component for the global renewable energy transition. He has been awarded many prestigious international awards, including the 2018 Global Energy Prize, the 2021 Japan Prize, the 2022 Millennium Technology Prize, the 2023 Queen Elizabeth Prize in Engineering, and the 2023 VinFuture Grand Prize.

Professor Pamela Christine Ronald, Professor at the Department of Plant Pathology and Genome Center at the University of California, Davis (USA), winner of the special prize for female scientists, new member of the VinFuture Prize council.

In the field of biology, the award committee has added a member, Prof. Pamela Christine Ronald. She is a PhD in molecular biology and plant physiology, and a researcher at the Institute for Innovative Genomics at the University of California, Berkeley. As the co-author of Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food, Prof. Pamela Christine Ronald was voted by Scientific American magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in the field of biotechnology. In 2022, Prof. Ronald was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture and the VinFuture Special Prize for Women Scientists. She is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS).

Professor Susan Solomon, Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies and Chair of the Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), winner of the VinFuture Special Prize for Women Scientists, new member of the VinFuture Prize Council.

Also a VinFuture Prize winner, Professor Susan Solomon is the Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Previously, she served as the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, acting director of the Atmospheric Chemistry Division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and most notably as a senior scientist and research chemist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She is widely recognized for her outstanding contributions to elucidating the mechanisms that cause the “hole” in the Antarctic ozone layer and improving our understanding of the complex interactions between atmospheric chemistry and climate change. With her outstanding career, she has received many prestigious awards, including the 1999 US National Medal of Science, the 2009 Volvo Environment Prize, the 2018 Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the VinFuture Special Prize for Women Scientists 2023. In 2008, she was voted by Time magazine (USA) into the list of 100 most influential people in the world. Sharing when accepting to join the VinFuture Prize Council, Prof. Martin Andrew Green said: "I am very impressed by the process of VinFuture rising to become one of the world's leading prizes in just three short years. I am personally interested in the role of Vietnam in leading the energy transition in Southeast Asia through the production and use of solar panels. Therefore, I am very pleased to join the VinFuture Prize committee. I am committed to actively contributing to promoting the solid achievements that the committee has established over the years, by selecting and making decisions to honor the most deserving pioneering innovators."

Two founders of VinFuture Foundation present flowers to the award council at the VinFuture 2023 award ceremony.

Commenting on the role of the new members, Professor Richard Henry Friend, Chairman of the VinFuture Prize Council, said: "The three new members of the Prize Council will bring important perspectives to key areas for which we received many strong nominations. Sustainability is often seen as a difficult factor to balance with the need to provide energy to all communities around the world. Therefore, the new members of the Council will bring extensive experience and expertise in these areas." Details of the veteran members have been widely publicized from previous seasons at https://vinfutureprize.org/prize-councils/

VinFuture Prize Season 4 is accepting nominations from 2:00 p.m. January 9, 2024 to 2:00 p.m. April 17, 2024 (Vietnam time, GMT+7). Nominations submitted after this deadline will be automatically transferred for consideration for the 2025 season. After 3 years of implementation, the prize has attracted 3 times the number of nominations, from 599 nominations in the first year to 1,389 nominations in 2023./.

Dantri.com.vn

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