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'.