Mrs Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and her husband Mr Michel de Carvalho at the award ceremony. The award ceremony was held in a festive atmosphere at the Beurs van Berlage, the old Amsterdam stock exchange. During the ceremony, films of the award winners gave the audience an impression of each of the prize winners' accomplishments. For the fourth time, His Royal Highness Willem-Alexander, The Prince of Orange, together with Professor Robbert H. Dijkgraaf, President of the Academy, presided over the ceremony and handed over the awards. "The Princes' presence had a major effect on the evening and gave the entire ceremony even more grandeur," said René Bernards, a jury member for selecting the Biochemistry and Biophysics award winner who also attended the evening. "He did an excellent job and also gave an inspiring speech," added Bernards. Deservedly, the focus of the ceremony was on the Prize winners, and it also became clear during the evening how much of a commitment the Heineken family through the Heineken foundations, invests to stimulate the arts and sciences. "The presence of Mrs de Carvalho-Heineken underscored how important it is to the Heineken family," said Bernards. "As a scientist spending all of my time on science, it is encouraging to see that there are people out there who support our work." The Heineken Prizes are awarded biannually to the most deserving practitioners of six disciplines in recognition of their achievements. These disciplines are Biochemistry and Biophysics, Medicine, Environmental Sciences, History, Cognitive Science and Art. In the 1960s, Alfred Heineken personally laid the foundations for the Prizes. And in 2006, the Prize for Cognitive Sciences was initiated by Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken. Today, the Heineken Prizes serve as a memorial to Mr Heineken's passionate belief in the arts and sciences. Within the scientific community, the Heineken Prizes are considered only second to the Nobel Prizes in terms of importance and prestige. The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences announced this year's winners of the prizes in April. The American scientist Jack Szostak was awarded the prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics for his "highly original insights into the fundamental origins of life". The Heineken Prize for History was awarded to British historian Jonathan Israel for his work on the early Enlightenment, which is an 18th century form of philosophy that bases reason as the primary source of authority. The Enlightenment went on to motivate the creation of the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. Israel has argued that while generally Locke and Newton are seen as the founding fathers of this intellectual movement, Spinoza played a crucial, yet often overlooked, role. The winner of the Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Cognitive Sciences was the French cognitive psychologist Stanislas Dehaene, he was selected for his research into the neurological foundations of mathematics. British epidemiologist Richard Peto won the prize for Medicine. He is one of the founders of a statistical technique called meta-analysis. Meta-analysis is used for summarising or amalgamating quantitive research. Dutch environmental epidemiologist Bert Brunekreef has distinguished himself with contributions to the environmental sciences. In particular, his inquiries into the health- effects of air pollution; earned him the Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences. Last but not least, the prize for Art was awarded to Dutch photo and video artist Barbara Visser. As part of their prize, each scientist received a cheque for $150,000 and the artist Barbara Visser received a cheque for €50,000 as well as financial assistance in publishing a book on her work. The prize winners were guests of the Heineken Foundation for a week, during which time, they shared their knowledge by giving lectures at universities throughout the Netherlands. The lectures that took place included 'Halving Premature Deaths' by Sir Richard Peto, 'The Great Stink-stories about Air Pollution and Health', by Professor Bert Brunekreef and by Professor Jonathan Israel, 'Enlightenment, Philosophy, Democracy and the question of Social Inequality'.

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World of Heineken | 2008 | | pagina 24