The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards 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, humanities and social sciences, and, finally, contemporary musical creation and performance. Specific categories are reserved for developing knowledge fields of critical relevance to confront central challenges of the 21st century, as in the case of the two environmental awards.
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.
There are eight award categories: basic science, biology and biomedicine, climate change, ecology and conservation biology, information and communications technologies, economics, finance and management, music and opera, humanities and social sciences (a new category in the 11th edition). Previously, in the first 10 editions, there was a category in development cooperation.
Eight juries, one for each category, analyze the nominations put forward by international academic and research institutions.[1] [2] 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, from the 11th edition, in the Euskalduna Palace at Bilbao, in the Basque Country.[3] [4] [5] [6]
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.[7] [8]
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.
As of 2023, 22 BBVA Foundation laureates have also won the Nobel Prize.
| Year | Category | Laureate | Nationality | Nobel Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Basic Sciences | Ignacio Cirac | ||
| Peter Zoller | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Joan Massagué | |||
| Climate Change | Wallace S. Broecker | |||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | ||||
| William Laurance | ||||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Jacob Ziv | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Jean Tirole | Economic Sciences 2014 | ||
| Development Cooperation | Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab | |||
| Arts | Steven Holl | |||
| 2009 | Basic Sciences | Richard Zare | ||
| Michael Fisher | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Robert Lefkowitz | Chemistry 2012 | ||
| Climate Change | Klaus Hasselmann | Physics 2021 | ||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Peter B. Reich | |||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Thomas Kailath | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | ||||
| Hugo F. Sonnenschein | ||||
| Development Cooperation | Development Research Institute | |||
| Contemporary Music | Cristóbal Halffter | |||
| 2010 | Basic Sciences | Gabor A. Somorjai | ||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Shinya Yamanaka | Physiology 2012 | ||
| Climate Change | Nicholas Stern | |||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Edward Osborne Wilson | |||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Donald Knuth | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Lars Peter Hansen | Economic Sciences 2013 | ||
| Development Cooperation | International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) | |||
| Contemporary Music | Helmut Lachenmann | |||
| 2011 | Basic Sciences | Michel Mayor | Physics 2019 | |
| Didier Queloz | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Alexander Varshavsky | |||
| Climate Change | Isaac Held | |||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Daniel H. Janzen | |||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Carver Mead | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Angus Deaton | Economic Sciences 2015 | ||
| Development Cooperation | Ciro de Quadros | |||
| Contemporary Music | Salvatore Sciarrino | |||
| 2012 | Basic Sciences | Ingrid Daubechies[9] | ||
| David Mumford[10] | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Douglas Coleman[11] | |||
| Jeffrey Friedman[12] | ||||
| Climate Change | Susan Solomon[13] | |||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Jane Lubchenco[14] | |||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Lotfi A. Zadeh[15] | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Paul Milgrom[16] | Economic Sciences 2020 | ||
| Development Cooperation | DNDi[17] | |||
| Contemporary Music | Pierre Boulez[18] | |||
| 2013 | Basic Sciences | Maximilian Haider[19] | ||
| Harald Rose[20] | ||||
| Knut Urban[21] | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Adrian Bird[22] | |||
| Climate Change | Christopher Field[23] | |||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Paul R. Ehrlich[24] | |||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Marvin Minsky[25] | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Elhanan Helpman[26] | |||
| Development Cooperation | Pratham[27] | |||
| Contemporary Music | Steve Reich[28] | |||
| 2014 | Basic Sciences | Stephen Buchwald[29] | ||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Joseph Schlessinger[30] | |||
| Charles Sawyers[31] | ||||
| Tony Hunter[32] | ||||
| Climate Change | Richard Alley[33] | |||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | David Tilman[34] | |||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Leonard Kleinrock[35] | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Richard Blundell | |||
| David Card | Economic Sciences 2021 | |||
| Development Cooperation | Helen Keller International | |||
| Contemporary Music | György Kurtág[36] | |||
| 2015 | Basic Sciences | Stephen Hawking | ||
| Viatcheslav Mukhanov | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Edward Boyden | |||
| Karl Deisseroth | ||||
| Gero Miesenböck | ||||
| Climate Change | Veerabhadran Ramanathan | |||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Ilkka Hanski | |||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Stephen Cook | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Robert Wilson | Economic Sciences 2020 | ||
| Development Cooperation | Martin Ravallion | |||
| Contemporary Music | Georges Aperghis | |||
| 2016 | Basic Sciences | David Cox | ||
| Bradley Efron | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Emmanuelle Charpentier | Chemistry 2020 | ||
| Jennifer Doudna | Chemistry 2020 | |||
| Francisco Mojica | ||||
| Climate Change | James Hansen | |||
| Syukuro Manabe | / | Physics 2021 | ||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Gene E. Likens | |||
| Marten Scheffer | ||||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Geoffrey Hinton | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Daron Acemoglu | / | Economic Sciences 2024 | |
| Development Cooperation | Peter J. Myler | |||
| Pedro L. Alonso | ||||
| Contemporary Music | Sofia Gubaidulina | |||
| 2017 | Basic Sciences | Omar M. Yaghi | / | |
| Biology and Biomedicine | James P. Allison | Medicine 2018 | ||
| Climate Change | William Nordhaus | Economic Sciences 2018 | ||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Rosemary Grant | |||
| Peter Grant | ||||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Shafi Goldwasser | |||
| Ronald Rivest | ||||
| Silvio Micali | ||||
| Adi Shamir | ||||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Robert Porter | |||
| Ariel Pakes | / | |||
| Timothy Bresnahan | ||||
| Development Cooperation | Nubia Muñoz | |||
| Contemporary Music | Kaija Saariaho | |||
| 2018 | Basic Sciences | Charles L. Kane[37] | ||
| Eugene J. Mele[38] | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Jeffrey I. Gordon[39] [40] | |||
| Climate Change | Anny Cazenave[41] | |||
| John A. Church[42] | ||||
| Jonathan M. Gregory[43] | ||||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Gretchen Daily[44] | |||
| Georgina Mace[45] | ||||
| Information and Communication Technologies | Ivan Sutherland[46] | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Claudia Goldin[47] | Economic Sciences 2023 | ||
| Humanities and Social Sciences | Noam Chomsky[48] | |||
| Music and Opera | John Adams[49] | |||
| 2019 | Basic Sciences | Gilles Brassard | ||
| Charles H. Bennett | ||||
| Peter Shor | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Michael N. Hall | / | ||
| David M. Sabatini | ||||
| Climate Change | Kerry A. Emanuel | |||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Daniel Pauly | |||
| Terence Hughes | / | |||
| Carlos M. Duarte | ||||
| Information and Communications Technology | Isabelle Guyon | |||
| Bernhard Schölkopf | ||||
| Vladimir Vapnik | / | |||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Philippe Aghion | |||
| Peter W. Howitt | ||||
| Humanities and Social Cognition | Susan Fiske | |||
| Shelley E. Taylor | ||||
| Music and Opera | Arvo Pärt | |||
| 2020 | Basic Sciences | Paul Alivisatos | ||
| Michael Grätzel | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | David Julius | Medicine 2021 | ||
| Ardem Patapoutian | / | Medicine 2021 | ||
| Climate Change | Neil Adger[50] | |||
| Ian Burton | ||||
| Karen O'Brien | ||||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Sandra Díaz | |||
| Sandra Lavorel | ||||
| Mark Westoby | ||||
| Information and Communications Technology | John L. Hennessy | |||
| David A. Patterson | ||||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Ben Bernanke | Economic Sciences 2022 | ||
| Mark Gertler | ||||
| Nobuhiro Kiyotaki | ||||
| John Moore | ||||
| Humanities and Social Sciences | Gerald Holton | / | ||
| Music and Opera | Peter Eötvös | |||
| 2021 | Basic Sciences | Charles Fefferman | ||
| Jean-François Le Gall | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Katalin Kariko | Medicine 2023 | ||
| Drew Weissman | Medicine 2023 | |||
| Robert S. Langer | ||||
| Climate Change | Lonnie G. Thompson | |||
| Ellen Mosley-Thompson | ||||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Lenore Fahrig | |||
| Simon Levin | ||||
| Steward Pickett | ||||
| Information and Communications Technology | Judea Pearl | / | ||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Matthew O. Jackson | |||
| Humanities and Social Sciences | Mark Granovetter[51] | |||
| Music and Opera | Philip Glass | |||
| 2022 | Basic Sciences | Paul Corkum | ||
| Ferenc Krausz | / | Physics 2023 | ||
| Anne L’Huillier | / | Physics 2023 | ||
| Biology and Biomedicine | David Baker | Chemistry 2024 | ||
| John Jumper | Chemistry 2024 | |||
| Demis Hassabis | Chemistry 2024 | |||
| Climate Change | Ellen Thomas | |||
| James Zachos | ||||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Susan Alberts | |||
| Jeanne Altmann | ||||
| Marlene Zuk | ||||
| Information and Communications Technology | Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli | / | ||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Timothy J. Besley | |||
| Torsten Persson | ||||
| Guido Tabellini | ||||
| Humanities and Social Sciences | Steven Pinker | |||
| Peter Singer | ||||
| Music and Opera | Thomas Adès | |||
| 2023 | Basic Sciences | Claire Voisin | ||
| Yakov Eliashberg | ||||
| Biology and Biomedicine | Franz-Ulrich Hartl | |||
| Arthur L. Horwich | ||||
| Kazutoshi Mori | ||||
| Peter Walter | ||||
| Climate Change | Dorthe Dahl-Jensen | |||
| Jean Jouzel | ||||
| Valérie Masson-Delmotte | ||||
| Jakob Schwander | ||||
| Thomas Stocker | ||||
| Ecology and Conservation Biology | Gerardo Ceballos | |||
| Rodolfo Dirzo | ||||
| Information and Communication Technologies | ||||
| Economics, Finance and Management | Partha Dasgupta | / | ||
| Humanities and Social Sciences | Elke U. Weber | |||
| Music and Opera | George Benjamin |
Below is a chart of all laureates per country (updated to 2023 laureates). Some laureates are counted more than once if they have multiple citizenships.
| Country | Number of laureates | |
|---|---|---|
 United States | 102 | |
 United Kingdom | 20 | |
 France | 9 | |
 Canada | 9 | |
 Germany | 7 | |
 Hungary | 6 | |
 Spain | 6 | |
 Japan | 5 | |
 Austria | 4 | |
| 3 | ||
 Italy | 3 | |
 Israel | 3 | |
 Sweden | 2 | |
 Brazil | 1 | |
 Argentina | 1 | |
 Netherlands | 1 |