Marten Scheffer winner 'Dutch Nobel Prize'

10 June 2009

On 9 June 2009, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced that Martin Scheffer will receive one of the three NWO/Spinoza Prizes for 2009. Professor Scheffer receives the prize for his pioneering contributions to our understanding critical transitions in complex systems, varying from shifts in shallow lakes to climate change an the collapse of ancient cultures. The prize is the highest Dutch award in science.

Prof. M. (Marten) Scheffer is an aquatic ecologist at Wageningen University and Research Centre. Scheffer has made pioneering contributions to our understanding of critical transitions in complex systems, varying from transitions in shallow lakes to climate change and the collapse of ancient cultures. Jury report

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The NWO/Spinoza Prize, also viewed as the 'Dutch Nobel Prize', is awarded to Dutch researchers who rank among the world’s top scientists. The laureates are internationally renowned and know how to inspire young researchers. This year for the first time, each researcher shall receive not one-and-a-half but two-and-a-half million euro to spend on research of their choice.

This is the fifteenth occasion on which the Spinoza Prizes have been awarded. The first occasion was in 1995. The awards are made on the basis of nominations. Those allowed to make nominations are the principals of universities, and the chairs of the departments of Literature and Physics of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Netherlands Society of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Dutch National Network of Female Professors, the Social Sciences Council and the NWO Divisional Boards.

Dutch Education Minister Ronald Plasterk will perform the official presentation of the monetary prize and the Spinoza statuette on Wednesday 25 November 2009 in the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague.

www.nwo.nl/spinozawinnaars (latest news, photos, jury reports, winners from previous years)