Due to Very huge press coverage & fame of Nobel Prize, we generally don’t hear about other prestigious Prizes for recognizing major discoveries in life sciences. In fact, some prizes are not only the biggest in terms of a cash prize, they are more prestigious than Nobel Prize too.
Some other prestigious prizes are listed below:
This $100,000 prize, founded in 1957, goes to seven biomedical or global health researchers each year. It’s nicknamed the “baby Nobels” because 87 of its awardees have gone on to win the real thing.
This award was started in 2013 and has only been awarded twice so far (once every four years). It comes with €4 million in cash, €3.5 million to support the awardee’s research, and €500,000 for his or her personal use.
The Laskers:
It was started in 1945, the Laskers are arguably the second-most prestigious prize in biomedicine; they’re often used to try to predict Nobel winners, given that the majority of Lasker winners go on to become Nobel laureates. Winners in each category share a $250,000 honorarium.
Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize:
Begun in 2013 by Silicon Valley billionaires, this $3 million award honors “transformative advances toward understanding living systems and extending human life.
These five-year, $625,000 grants are perhaps best known for supporting people working in the humanities, but the “MacArthur geniuses” can be scientists, too.
Biopharmaceutical science is one of the four fields recognized by this award, which was started in 2012 by Taiwanese billionaire Samuel Yin. The prizes, totalling $50 million Taiwanese dollars (about $1.7 million US dollars), are given every two years.
endowed by a Swedish industrialist. The Crafoord Prize in Mathematics and Astronomy, Biosciences, Geosciences or Polyarthritis research is awarded in partnership between the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Crafoord Foundation. The prize sum of SEK 6 million (0.7 million USD( makes the Crafoord Prize one of the world´s largest scientific prizes.
Presented every two years, each of three international prizes consists of $1 million USD. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters selects Kavli Prize Laureates based on unanimous recommendations of three independent prize committees for achievements in the field of astrophysics, neuroscience, and nanoscience.
: Founded in 1984 by Kazuo Inamori, the Kyoto Prize is an international award of Japanese origin that honors individuals who have made significant contributions in the fields of science and technology, as well as arts and philosophy. The prizes are endowed with 100 million yen (roughly 1 million USD) per category
The Templeton Prize :
honors individuals whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton’s philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it. The prize carries a monetary award of 1.1 million British pounds, or about $1.4 million USD
The Abel Prize
is a Norwegian prize awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. It is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel and directly modeled after the Nobel Prizes. It comes with a monetary award of 7.5 million Norwegian Kroner (NOK) (approx 0.85 million USD)
Chern Medal
It is named in honor of the late Chinese mathematician Shiing-Shen Chern. The award is a joint effort of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) and the Chern Medal Foundation (CMF). Each recipient receives a medal decorated with Chern’s likeness, a cash prize of $250,000 (USD), and the opportunity to direct $250,000 of charitable donations to one or more organizations for the purpose of supporting research, education, or outreach in mathematics.
The Fields Medal,
The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years.The prize comes with a monetary award which, since 2006, has been CA$15,000
The International Prize in Statistics
is awarded every two years to an individual or team “for major achievements using statistics to advance science, technology and human welfare”. The International Prize in Statistics, along with the COPSS Presidents’ Award, are the two highest honours in the field of Statistics. The prize is modelled after the Nobel prizes and comes with a monetary award of $80,000.
The Millennium Technology Prize
is one of the world’s largest technology prizes. It is awarded once every two years by Technology Academy Finland. The prize is presented by the President of Finland. The prize was inaugurated in 2004. It includes cash prize of one million Euros.