Spinoza Prize

The NWO Spinoza Prize is a unique lifetime achievement award but above all an encouragement for further academic research. The Spinoza Prize was established in 1995. NWO created the prize to increase the visibility of excellent scientists and to encourage world-class research in the Netherlands. 

Any sufficiently qualified researcher holding a permanent position at a research institute in the Netherlands can be nominated for a Spinoza Prize.

The laureates each receive a bronze statue of Spinoza and 1.5 million euros. They are free to spend this as they wish as long as the expenditure is related to academic research.

The NWO Spinoza Prize is awarded annually to two researchers, one working in the Social Sciences and Humanities and one from the Natural, Life and Technical Sciences. Candidates for the NWO Spinoza Prize can only be nominated personally by principles and chairpersons who NWO invites to submit nominations. NWO invites the principles and chairpersons of the following organisations to nominate candidates:

• the universities located in the Kingdom of the Netherlands;
• the domain of Humanities via the president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW);
• the domain of Behavioural Sciences, Social Sciences and Law via the president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW);
• the domain of Natural Sciences and Engineering via the president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW);
• the domain of Medical, Medical-Biological and Health Sciences via the president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW);
• de Jonge Akademie via the president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW);
• the Netherlands Academy of Engineering;
• the Dutch Network of Women Professors;
• the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centres (NFU)
• the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW);
• the TO2 federation (the institutes for applied research);
• the NWO-I Foundation Board or the Permanent Committee on National Institutes;
• the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW).

The principles and chairpersons may each nominate a total of three candidates for the Spinoza and the Stevin Prize with a maximum of two candidates per prize. Researchers cannot apply for a Spinoza Prize themselves.

Candidates for the NWO Spinoza Prize:

• should have a permanent position at one of the research institutes in the Netherlands;
• should be able to spend the Spinoza Prize fully before their retirement age;
• may not have already received a Spinoza Prize or a Stevin Prize.

The quality of the candidates is assessed in relation to broadly held standards within the relevant disciplines. The assessment and selection of the candidates takes place on the basis of past performance taking into account the following quality criteria:

• (Inter)nationally acknowledged scientific quality and impact (70%)
• Leadership and the power to attract to early stage researchers (20%)
• Knowledge exchange and impact (including outreach activities) (10%)

Deadline nominations: 31 October 2024

As of 2023 NWO installs one selection committee for the Spinoza and the Stevin Prize. The committee round 2024 was composed of the following persons:

Committee 2024

• Prof. Pauline Meurs, (technical) chair
• Prof. Jean Pieters, University of Basel (CH)
• Prof. Val Zwiller, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE)
• Prof. Peter Frankopan, Oxford University (UK)
• Prof. Regina Mulder, Universität Regensburg (DE)
• Prof. Jan Nederveen Pieterse, University of California – Santa Barbara (US)
• Prof. Hans Kerp, Universität Münster (DE)
• Prof. Stefan Heinrich, Technische Universität Hamburg (DE)
• Josse Kunst, dir. Kiduara (NL)
• Prof. Marja Makarow, University of Helsinki (FI)
• Prof. Ellen Decaestecker, KU Leuven (BE)
• Prof. Ianthi Maria Tsimpli, University of Cambridge (UK)
• Prof. Marta Kwiatkowska, University of Oxford (UK)
• Prof. Georges Gielen, KU Leuven (BE)
• Prof. Carol Brayne, University of Cambridge (UK)
• Garance Reus, dir. Plan International (NL)
• Prof. Meg Urry, Yale University (US)