A maker of solar-powered dryers, a soil carbon marketplace and groups that help make electric car batteries cleaner and restore Andean forests were among 15 winners of this year’s Singapore prize. Britain’s Prince William, whose Royal Foundation charity launched the 10-year award program in 2020, said at a ceremony Tuesday that the solutions presented by the finalists showed “hope does remain” as the effects of climate change continue to be felt around the globe.
The prize celebrates the “best and most impactful research and innovations by scientists and engineers in Singapore.” Winners will receive up to $100,000 in funding. The prizes are given out every two years and come with a medallion and a trophy. They are awarded by the prestigious Singapore National Academy of Sciences (SNA).
This year’s awards will be presented in four categories, including science communication, which will honour an individual or team who has made a significant contribution to the public understanding and appreciation of science through written works, media appearances, or other activities. Other categories include research, science and technology innovation, and physics education.
In the physics category, the IPS award will recognise a researcher who has contributed significantly to the development of physics in Singapore. The award is based on the recommendations of a panel of scientists and is open to researchers from all disciplines working in Singapore.
For the second time, the NUS History Prize will recognise a publication that “encourages engagement with Singapore’s history broadly understood and makes the nuances of our past more accessible”. The shortlist of six includes historical tomes as well as non-fiction work with a personal slant, such as Jeremy Tiang’s Sembawang (2020, available here), which tells the story of an extended family through five decades in an estate in the central district of Kampong Gelam.
The winner of the NUS History Prize will be announced next October, after a jury has assessed 31 books submitted by publishers. It will be chaired by Kishore Mahbubani, distinguished fellow of the NUS Asia Research Institute. Other members of the jury are academics John Miksic, head of NUS’s Department of History; Tan Tai Yong, president of NUS; and Peter Borschberg, director of the Global Research Institute at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The NUS Prize is supported by the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Book Development Council and the National Arts Council of Singapore. The prize is the latest initiative under the “Our Story” series, which also consists of awards to highlight key events in Singapore’s history. The awards are named after Lee Kuan Yew, who led the country through its economic transformation into a developed nation. The first awards were presented in 2009, and the programme has since been elevated to Presidential level status. The organisers of the awards say it has become an annual feature that “resonates with the public.” This year, it is themed around resonance and will be presented in four languages. Clara Chow has the rare honour of being shortlisted in three different categories and in two languages, and is the first writer in the prize’s history to do so.