The Princess of Asturias Foundation

45 nominations from 19 different countries are in the running for this award, the fourth of eight international awards that are bestowed each year by the Prince of Asturias Foundation, and which are now in their thirty-second year.

Jury meeting for the 2012 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research. ©FPA

The meetings of the jury responsible for awarding the 2012 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, the fourth of eight international awards that will be bestowed by the Prince of Asturias Foundation, will be held on May 30^th and 31^st. The awards will be bestowed this year for the thirty-second time in their history.

According to the Statutes of the Foundation, the Prince of Asturias Awards aim “to reward the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanistic work performed at an international level by individuals, institutions or groups of individuals or institutions”. As part of this spirit, the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research shall be conferred on those “whose findings, inventions and/or research studies in the fields of Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics, Chemistry, Life Sciences, Medical Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences or Technological Sciences, including the disciplines corresponding to each of these fields and their associated techniques, represent a significant contribution to the progress and welfare of Mankind.”

There are 45 nominations in the running for this Award from Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and Spain.

The Award is endowed with fifty thousand Euros, a sculpture created and specially donated for the awards by Joan Miró, a diploma and an insignia.

The Jury, which is to meet at the Reconquista Hotel, will be made up of the following members:

Juan Luis Arsuaga Ferreras
Juan Ignacio Cirac Sasturáin
Pedro Miguel Echenique Landiríbar
Antonio Fernández-Rañada Menéndez de Luarca
Luis Fernández-Vega Sanz
Cristina Garmendia Mendizábal
Santiago Grisolía García
María del Rosario Heras Celemín
Bernardo Hernández González
Emilio Lora-Tamayo D’Ocón
José Antonio Martínez Álvarez
Petra Mateos-Aparicio Morales
Amador Menéndez Velázquez
Ginés Morata Pérez
Enrique Moreno González
César Nombela Cano
Eduard Punset Casals
Marta Sanz-Solé
Manuel Toharia Cortés
Vicente Gotor Santamaría (secretario)

Members of the juries will hold an initial meeting with the media at 12 noon on Wednesday 30^th in the "Salón de Consejos" of the hotel (on the first floor), immediately prior to being formally convened and starting their deliberations. The jury will then elect a president from amongst them. The Jury secretary will be appointed by the Foundation.

Their decision will be made public at 12 noon on Thursday 31^st in the Salón Covadonga of the hotel (on the ground floor), and jury members will then be available for interviews.

The reading of the jury’s decision will be broadcast live for more than 150 countries via the main national and international radio and television channels. The signal will be openly transmitted via Hispasat satellite (America and Europe). In addition, there will be a live Internet broadcast at the Foundation's website.