Frontiers Planet Prize

Eligibility

For this prize, three International Champions will be selected from the pool of National Champions (for Canada the NRC may submit 3 names). Each International Champion wins 1 million Swiss Francs to advance their important breakthrough research. Details about the selection process here.

Criteria: 

The Frontiers Planet Prize will be awarded to the best research published in established peer-reviewed scientific journals, with robust peer review and transparent publication procedures. The NRC is looking for papers to nominate.

The acceptance date of the article must fall within the 2 years prior to the launch of the competition (date of acceptance: 1 November 2022 to 31 October 2024).  Scientific excellence is the default principle to participate in the Frontiers Planet Prize.

Research across all disciplines is welcome, including social sciences, on condition it is focused on planetary boundaries and offers new insights that help to reduce the destabilization of the Earth system. Specifically, the research should respond to the following criteria:

• The research advances insights, approaches, and scalable solutions for humanity’s ability to navigate a world that develops within the safe operating space of the planetary boundaries
• The research has the potential for breakthrough applications that can reduce or reverse the planetary imbalances
• The research must explicitly (analytically) connect (explore implications) several planetary boundaries at the Earth system scale.
• Research that explores interactions/relations between multiple planetary boundaries will be prioritized.

Summary

The Frontiers Planet Prize celebrates breakthroughs in sustainability science, rewarding solutions that show measurable potential to help humanity remain within the boundaries of the Earth’s ecosystem. 

The process requires that National Nominating Bodies (universities or research institutions) submit their nominations to the National Representative Body, which for Canada is the National Research Council.

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

If you have a paper to nominate for this award, please submit a Notice of Intent to Research Services by Monday, August 26^th by emailing researchawards@ucalgary.ca. Please note that simply the name of the nominated scholar and a copy of their paper is sufficient at this stage. The University of Canada will select up to 3 nominations that it can forward on to NRC. 

Scientists who wish to participate in the prize can do so through their research institution or university, who have agreed to act as a National Nominating Body (NNB).  The NNB reaches out to the lead scientist of the most promising research articles and invites them to apply by filling out a standard application form, supplied by the Frontiers Research Foundation. 

The process requires that the NNB submit their nominations to the National Representative Body, which for Canada is the National Research Council. The University of Canada can forward up to 3 nominations. 

The deadline for submissions to the NRC is November 1.

View the full timeline here.

For submissions and further questions about this prize, please contact Terrie Romano Terrie.Romano@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca or Daria Sochinskaia daria.sochinskaia@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca at the NRC.