Katalin Karikó Awarded the Bolyai Prize

The Board of Trustees and the Founders of the Bolyai Prize Foundation have announced that in 2021, the most prestigious award in Hungarian academia will be received by Katalin Karikó.

Established in 1998 and awarded every two years, the Bolyai Prize (named after world-renowned 19th century Hungarian mathematician János Bolyai), the first major private scientific award in Hungary since 1945, was created by Hungarian businessmen with the aim of giving knowledge and science a place in people's values, thus ensuring the social recognition that scientists deserve.

The prize, which is funded by a private foundation and established on the initiative of a civil society, is open to persons of Hungarian nationality or origin who have achieved outstanding results in the fields of scientific research and development, education of young scientists and the use of their results in socio-economic life, including at international level.

The prize, which carries a cash award of EUR 100,000, is decided by an independent fifteen-member jury chaired by the President of the Republic, half of its fourteen members are nominated by the Presidium of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the other half by the founders of the Bolyai Prize Foundation, who are prominent figures in Hungarian scientific and economic life.

"Research biologist Katalin Karikó has played a pioneering role in the development of the mRNA-based vaccine against COVID-19, and her achievements are followed by the academic community and the public world worldwide," Dr. Gábor Szabó, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bolyai Prize Foundation, said.

The award ceremony will take place at a later date.