The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, Premios Fundación BBVA Fronteras del Conocimiento, in Spanish, are an international award programme recognizing significant contributions in the areas of scientific research and cultural creation. The categories that make up the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards respond to the knowledge map of the present age. As well as the fundamental knowledge that is at their core, they address developments in information and communication technologies, and interactions between biology and medicine, ecology and conservation biology, climate change, economics, development cooperation and, finally, contemporary musical creation and performance. Specific categories are reserved for developing knowledge fields of critical relevance, as in the case of the two environmental awards. Accolades in the environment area and development cooperation, two central challenges of the 21st century, may go to either research or practical actions and programs founded on the best available knowledge.
Contents
The awards were established in 2008, with the first set of winners receiving their prizes in 2009. The BBVA Foundation – belonging to financial group BBVA – is partnered in the scheme by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the country’s premier public research organization.
In their eight editions, as many as four winners of BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. They are: Robert J. Lefkowitz, 2009 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Laureate in Biomedicine and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2012; Shinya Yamanaka, 2010 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Laureate in Biomedicine and Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2012; Lars Peter Hansen, 2010 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Laureate in Economics, Finance and Management, and 2013 Nobel Laureate in Economics; Jean Tirole, 2008 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Laureate in Economics, Finance and Management and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics 2014, and Angus Deaton, 2011 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Laureate in Economics, Finance and Management and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics 2015.
Categories
There are 8 award categories: Basic science, Biomedicine, Ecology and Conservation Biology, Information and Communication Technologies, Economy, Finance and Management, Contemporary Music, Climate Change, and Development cooperation. Specific categories are reserved for developing knowledge fields of critical relevance, as in the case of the two environmental awards. Accolades in the environment area and development cooperation, two central challenges of the 21st century, may go to either research or practical actions and programs founded on the best available knowledge.
Juries
Eight juries, one for each category, analyze the nominations put forward by eminent international academic and research institutions. Jury chairs in the latest 9th(2016) award edition were:
In Basic Sciences, Theodor W. Hänsch, Director of the Division of Laser Spectroscopy at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, and holder of a Nobel Prize in Physics.
In Biomedicine, Angelika Schnieke, Chair of Livestock Technology in the Technische Universität München (TUM).
In Ecology and Conservation Biology, Emily Bernhardt, Professor of the Department of Biology at Duke University.
In Information and Communication Technologies, George Gottlob, Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford.
In Economics, Finance and Management, Eric S. Maskin, Adams University Professor at Harvard University and Nobel Prize in Economics.
In Contemporary Music, Nicholas Cook, Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge.
In Climate Change, Bjorn Stevens, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology.
In Development Cooperation, Joachim Von Braun, Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn.
Award decision
To reach their decision, the juries meet during January and February in the Marqués de Salamanca Palace, Madrid headquarters of the BBVA Foundation. The day after the jury’s decision, the name of the winners(s) and the achievements that earned them the award are revealed at an announcement event in the same location.
Ceremony
The awards are presented in June each year at a ceremony held in the Marqués de Salamanca Palace, Madrid headquarters of the BBVA Foundation, and attended by representatives of Spain’s scientific and cultural communities.
BBVA Foundation
The BBVA Foundation engages in the promotion of research, advanced training and the transmission of knowledge to society, focusing on the emerging issues of the 21st century in five areas: Environment, Biomedicine and Health, Economy and Society, Basic Sciences and Technology, and Arts and Humanities. The BBVA Foundation designs, develops and finances research projects in these areas; facilitates advanced specialist training through grants, courses, seminars and workshops; organizes award schemes for researchers and professionals whose work has contributed significantly to the advancement of knowledge; and communicates and disseminates such new knowledge through publications, databases, lecture series, debates, exhibitions and audiovisual and electronic media.
Prizes
Each BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge laureate receives a commemorative artwork, a diploma and a cash prize of 400,000 euros per category. Awards may not be granted posthumously, and when an award is shared, its monetary amount is divided equally among the recipients.
The commemorative artwork is created by Madrid sculptor Blanca Muñoz, B.A. in Fine Arts from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Holder of scholarships at Calcografia Nazionale (1989), awarded by the Italian Government, at the Spanish Royal Academy in Rome (1990), and in Mexico City (1992), awarded by the Mexican Department of Foreign Affairs, her numerous distinctions include the 1999 National Print Prize.