On 29 September at 18:00 HKT, the Shaw Prize Foundation held a virtual award ceremony for this year’s Shaw Prize. The event honoured all the 2022 Shaw Laureates, who were announced in May this year. The winners of the prize in the astronomy category are Lennart Lindegren and Michael Perryman, for their lifetime contributions to space astrometry — in particular their role in the conception and design of the European Space Agency’s Hipparcos and Gaia missions.

The award ceremony was held on the foundation’s online platforms and livestreamed on its website, Facebook page and YouTube channel to celebrate the exceptional achievements of the 2022 Shaw Laureates. More details can be found in the ceremony programme.

Promoting scientific excellence is a key aim of both the Shaw Prize and the IAU. Since 2019, the two organisations have been working together towards this shared goal, through activities such as the annual Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education.

In addition to astronomy, the Shaw Prize is awarded in two other categories: Life Science & Medicine and Mathematical Sciences. The winners of the 2022 prize for Life Science & Medicine are Paul A. Negulescu and Michael J. Welsh for landmark discoveries of the molecular, biochemical and functional defects underlying cystic fibrosis, and the development of medicines that can treat most people affected by this disorder. The winners of the 2022 prize for Mathematical Sciences are Noga Alon and Ehud Hrushovski, for their remarkable contributions to discrete mathematics and model theory with interaction notably with algebraic geometry, topology and computer sciences.

More information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

Contacts

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Director of Communications
Cell: +1 520 461 0433/+49 173 38 72 621
Email: lars.christensen@noirlab.edu