Frontiers of Knowledge Awards

Eligibility

Candidates may be one or more natural persons of any nationality, without limitation of number, that have made independent or convergent contributions to a given advance, whether due to a formal collaboration (with the nominees belonging to one or more groups) or parallel working. The awards are also open to scientific or cultural organizations that can be collectively credited with exceptional contributions to sci- entific knowledge, cultural creation or the fight against climate change.

Awards may not be granted posthumously.

Any scientific or cultural organization or institution can submit nominations, following their own internal procedures. Among them:

• Scientific or artistic societies and organizations a National and regional academies of science or culture
• Public or private R&D centers
• University schools, departments or institutes and research or teaching institutes
• Hospital departments and biomedical research centers
• Schools of music
• Orchestras, orchestra associations, opera theaters and opera associations
• Public agencies and supranational, national or regional organizations substantially engaged in analysis and/or activities relating to climate change
• Other scientific, cultural and environmental organizations

Winners of the Nobel Prize in any of its categories are likewise eligible to nominate, as are past winners of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards.

The BBVA Foundation may also invite nominations from researchers and cultural creators that have made outstanding contributions in their respective fields, establishing consultative or advisory panels to this end.

The same organization, institution or individual nominator may put forward more than one candidate without limitation of number, but no candidate may be nominated in more than one award category.

Summary

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards recognize fundamental contributions in a broad array of areas of scientific knowledge, technology, humanities and artistic creation, as listed in point 2 of these call conditions.

The disciplines and domains of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards are:

1. Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics)
2. Biology and Biomedicine
3. Information and Communication Technologies
4. Ecology and Conservation Biology
5. Climate Change
6. Economics, Finance and Management
7. Humanities and Social Sciences
8. Music and Opera

The Climate Change award recognizes both research endeavors in confronting this challenge and impactful actions informed by the best science. In Humanities and Social Sciences, the award will alternate annually between these two disciplinary domains, with this sixteenth edition dedicated to the Social Sciences. Finally, the Music and Opera category encompasses composition, instrumental and vocal performance, musical and stage direction, and video art creation associated with musical or operatic works.

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

The nomination period will open on January 1, 2024 and conclude at 16:00 GMT on June 30 of the same year.

All nominations should be submitted using the dedicated form on Frontiers of Knowledge Awards website: https://www.frontiersofknowledgeawards-fbbva.es/ 

Both nominations and the accompanying documentation must be submitted in English only.

In the event that various organizations or individuals wish to jointly or coordinately submit a nomination, they should appoint a nomination coordinator who will merge all the materials into a single entry.

The nominating institution or individual must provide the following information and documentation, as specified at the above web address:

1. Award category for which the candidate is nominated
2. Name of the nominating institution and officer/body, with the corresponding contact data (postal and email address, plus landline and cell phone numbers)
3. Letter of nomination signed by the nominating officer/body
4. Candidate particulars including institutional affiliation and contact data
5. Description of the salient contributions of the candidate and reasoned arguments for the nomination (maximum of three pages, single spaced)
6. Candidate’s curriculum vitae

If an entry refers to one or several research teams or several persons that have made convergent contributions to a given advance as a result of parallel working, the nominating officer/body should provide the information referred to in points 4 and 6 above for all members of the candidature.

With regard to point 5, the nominator should provide a single descriptive narrative in- cluding an account of the role performed by each member. This description need only be provided if the letter of nomination does not give an account of the candidate’s salient con- tributions or if it is necessary to expand on the information contained therein.

The BBVA Foundation will send an email to all nominators confirming the acceptance of the entry, and facilitating a reference number which should be quoted in all subsequent correspondence.

If the documentation furnished is incomplete or contains correctable errors, the BBVA Foundation will notify the nominator to this effect, granting a non-extendible term of thirty calendar days in which to rectify the flaws detected, so the entry may be accepted for consideration.

The BBVA Foundation undertakes to preserve the confidentiality of all documentation received, and will in no event provide itemized or individual information on the nominations received or on the deliberations of the award committees. The BBVA Foundation will publish only the names of those persons or institutions that have nominated a winning candidate.