About the Foundation and the Prize

Present Partner Universities

The following is a list of partner universities. The number of annual prizes received is listed next to the name of each university (in brackets).

• Charles University, Prague – Czech Republic [1]
• City University London, Cass Business School – Great Britain [1]
• EPFL, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Switzerland [2]
• ETHZ, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich – Switzerland [2]
• George Washington University – United States [1]
• Hebrew University of Jerusalem – Israel [1]
• Hiroshima University – Japan [1]
• Karolinska Institute – Sweden [1]
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology – United States [2]
• National Technical University of Athens – Greece [2]
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) – Norway [1]
• Politecnico di Milano – Italy [2]
• Purdue University – United States [1]
• Technical University of Berlin – Germany [2]
• Technical University of Munich – Germany [2]
• Tokyo Institute of Technology – Japan [2]
• Tsinghua University, Beijing – China [2]
• University of California, Los Angeles – United States [2]
• University of Fribourg – Switzerland [1]
• University of Toronto – Canada [1]
• Weizmann Institute of Science, Weizmann School of Science– Israel [2]

Former Partner Universities

• Budapest University of Technology and Economics – Hungary
• Columbia University – United States
• Ecole Normale Supérieure – France}
• Erasmus University – The Netherlands
• London Business School – Great Britain
• Technical University of Vienna – Austria
• University of Ottawa – Canada

Prize winners must be at the top of their class; and must demonstrate by their work that they have considered the consequences of their research for man and nature, and that they are ready as individuals to accept responsibility for these consequences. Awards are made after a very careful selection process in each respective prize category.

• View list by year and institution
• View list by institution and year
• View list by name

The award is given in six areas, with a particular emphasis on research in:

• Life Sciences & Medicine
• Physics
• Chemistry (including nanotechnology)
• Mathematics
• Informatics/Computer Science
• Engineering of Finance & Risk Management).

Origin of the Foundation

The Foundation was instituted in 1992 in collaboration with the Conference of the Swiss Academies of Science, which integrated the Swiss Academy of Sciences (founded in 1815), the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (instituted in 1943), the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (founded in 1946) and Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (founded in 1981). In 1996 the Foundation became independent of the Academies of Sciences. Since 1996, it has worked in collaboration with 20 partner universities in fifteen different countries. The Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation is registered as a not-for-profits entity in Canton Lucerne, Switzerland.

The Board of the Foundation

The Foundation is managed by a 3-member Board. This has been the policy followed since its establishment in 1992. The Board’s basic duties are to:

• Effectively manage the Foundation’s wealth.
• Do so in a manner consistent with a conservative investment policy.
• Assure the Foundations continues being a successfully operating entity.
• Handhold with the partner universities through the year, in collaboration with the Scientific Advisor.
• Control and approve the annual prize winners. This control consists of a general appreciation of the depth of the research, as well as the observation of prerequisites relating to the confirmation process.

Members of the Board

The following are the members of the Board of the Foundation:

To our regret, we had to bid farewell to our long-standing President Dr Heinrich Steinmann on 31 July 2024 as he enters his well-deserved retirement. We will not forget his tireless support and professional advice in the decades since the foundation was established, and we will miss him greatly on the Board. It was his wish that Eva Maria Binder should succeed him as the new President due to her many years of service to the Foundation. Eva Maria Binder will take over the presidency of the Foundation from 1 August 2024.

Ms. Eva Maria Binder has been the Executive Secretary of the Foundation since 1996, Member of the Board since 2014 and President since August 1, 2024. A German citizen, Ms. Binder worked since 1976 as Dr. Chorafas' research assistant; collaborated in the research, artwork and indexing of over 100 books authored by Dr. Chorafas. In 1992 Ms. Binder co-authored with Dr. Chorafas “Technoculture and Change. Strategic Solutions for Tomorrow's Society,” published in London by Adamantine Press.

Franz-Josef Wichowski, born in 1952 and presently resident in Germany, he obtained his degree in biology (focus on environmental engineering) at FU Berlin and the University of Kiel in the 1970s. Subsequently, he was in charge of several scientific activities, e.g., at the Senckenberg research institute, as a department member of the supreme water authority of the regional council of Darmstadt until 2018 and currently as a director at Oekobuero Gelnhausen GbR. He was and still is responsible for implementing European Water Guidelines, expert opinions, and managing large-scale projects such as “Sued Link.” Further projects he was engaged in focused on the development, assessment, and evaluation of water body renaturation and ecological supervisions in constructions.

Lukas Isenschmid, born in 1989 and based in Luzern, is a senior trustee at a renowned consulting firm with extensive education and professional experience. He holds a diploma as a certified trustee from the STI Swiss Trustee Institute FH and the Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences. Prior to that, he obtained a diploma as a certified business economist from the KV Luzern Business Academy. Lukas has in-depth knowledge in the areas of tax, financial statements, and business consulting, as well as in company formation and restructuring. He has experience in preparing financial statements and reports, as well as in tax planning and optimization. Additionally, his core competencies lie in financial planning, pension consulting, and matrimonial and inheritance law. In addition to his work in the trustee field, Lukas is a partner and CEO at RaceRunning Switzerland, a company that promotes sports for individuals with physical disabilities. Lukas has also served as a tutor at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the Commercial Vocational School in Luzern.

Legal Counsel

The legal counsel of the Foundation is lic. iur. Anton Bühlmann. Mr. Bühlmann was born in 1957. He is a resident of Lucerne, where he practices his professional activities has studied law at the University of Zurich, where he graduated in 1986. After his admission to the bar in the canton of Lucerne in 1987 he entered the law firm Troller Hitz Troller, Lucerne in 1988 as attorney-at-law. Since 1994, he has been a partner of he law firm Troller Hitz Troller.The primary emphasis of Anton Bühlmann’s professional activity concerns commercial and corporation law, Swiss and international agreements and arbitration, trademark and company-name law, the law on competition, copyright law and the landlord and tenant law. He engages in counselling and appears in court. As additional functions, Anton Bühlmann is Chairman of the Conciliation Tribunal for tenancy matters of the Canton of Lucerne since 1994 and a member of the bar examination commission of the Canton of Lucerne. Since 2005, lic. iur. Anton Bühlmann has been a permanent lecturer for tenancy law at the University of Lucerne. He is also active as an author/coauthor of books and essays on civil procedure law and tenancy law. lic. iur. Anton Bühlmann has been the legal counsel of the Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation since 2015.

Scientific Advisor

The Scientific Advisor of the Foundation is the Weizmann School of Science of the Weizmann Institute of Science. The Scientific Advisor is responsible for: The organization of competition for the annual prizes, the review of candidates for the awards, proposal to the Board for awarding the prizes and hand-holding with the Partner Universities. This work is done within the perspective established by the Scientific Advisor’s rules and regulations and the Foundation’s Authentic Act and Statutes. The above-mentioned review should not enter into the contents of the candidate prize winner’s research thesis, which is the Partner University’s responsibility. The huge diversity of submitted research thesis precludes central evaluation. The review consists of a general appreciation of the depth of the research and of the scientific accomplishments of the nominee as they are manifested in the letters of reference, CV, list of publications – these being the quality criteria. With the exception of borderline cases which have to be resolved prior to confirmation (for instance due to incomplete candidate files, unconvincing research results or same candidate name submitted time and again), the Board of the Foundation confirms the selection process handheld by the Scientific Advisor.

Timeline 2024

• February 08, 2024: Call for nominations by the Scientific Advisor.
• June 20, 2024: Submission of nomination files by the Partner Universities to the Scientific Advisor. 
• July 2024: Review of the nomination files by the Scientific Advisor.
• Approval of the year’s prize winners (by the Board of the Foundation).
• Distribution of the prize certificates and checks by the Board of the Foundation.
   

General guidelines

Deadline for submissions:
June 2024, of the PRIZE_YEAR
 

Prize value
Each prize winner will receive $10,000.
 

Splitting the Prize
It is NOT possible to split a prize between two candidates.
 

Age Restrictions
The age limit at the time of nominated is 32. i.e. candidates may have beenm born before been born after May 31, 1992, of the the year (prize year minus 32). The age limit for Israeli candidates is 34.

Graduation Restrictions
Candidates must have graduated after May 31, of the preceding year, or are expected to graduate by December 31, of the prize year.

Repeat Nominations
A candidate may be nominated only once.
 

The format of the nomination file
a single file in a PDF format containing all the segments listed below in their specified order. The size of this combined file should not exceed 20MB. When done please click on "Apply Changes" to instruct the system to submit the uploaded file.
 

How to submit the nomination file(s)
Please use our online nomination system to submit your file(s). You may access the system with the URL (provided below), USERNAME and PASSWORD. Please click the “Edit” link that will show on the screen, and fill in the required information about your candidate. Thereafter, please upload the candidate’s nomination file. It should be

http://erez.weizmann.ac.il/pls/htmldb/f?p=314:101
 

Required documents and their order

Cover Page with the following information:

• Full Name (LAST, first)
• Gender
• Title (e.g. Dr.)
• Candidate's home address (essential for issuing the prize check)
• Date of Birth [DD/MM/YYYY]
• Title of the Thesis;
• Graduation date (or expected graduation date) (MM/YYYY)
• Field of Research
• Passport size photo
   

Cover Letter
A brief nomination letter (a short paragraph), written under the Partner University’s letterhead, confirming the University’s choice and signed by the authorized person at the Partner University.
 

Curriculum Vitae
Including internships, if any.
 

List of publications
Only papers where the candidate is the first author; the paper must be either published, in press or accepted (in peer-review journals).
 

Summary of Research
Up to one page only.
 

Candidate’s personal note
Why my research benefits humanity… (up to one page only)
 

Letter of recommendation 1
from the Ph.D. advisor/s (required) the salutation should be: Dear Members of the Board
 

Letter of recommendation 2
(required) the salutation should be: Dear Members of the Board
 

Selected abstracts
(up to 5 abstracts - no longer than 1/2 page each)
 

List of the statistically valid sample of candidates
Presenting 20-25 candidates that were considered, but not retained (the list should contain first and last name; faculty, or, the field of studies; and thesis title).