Balzan Prizes

Eligibility

The General Prize Committee of the “Prize” Foundation invites the most prestigious international cultural and scientific institutions  to submit names of candidates for the four annual Balzan Prizes.

The four Balzan Prizes, two per category, are awarded to scholars, artists, and scientists who have distinguished themselves in their fields on an international level.

The subject areas in which the awards are granted are rotated, and this special characteristic of the Balzan Prize ensures the promotion and recognition of new or emerging fields of study or research that may have been overlooked by other international awards.

In 2001, the Articles of the Balzan Foundation made a stipulation that prizewinners must destine half of the prize to finance research projects that are carried out by young scholars or scientists.

Summary

The General Prize Committee announced that the 2025 Balzan Prizes will be awarded in the following fields:

• History of Contemporary Art
• Classics: Athenian Democracy Revisited
• Atoms and Ultra-Precise Measurement of Time
• Gene and Gene-Modified Cell Therapy

Half the Prize money will be awarded to the Prizewinner in recognition of her/his work. The other half will be destined by the Prizewinner to a research project involving young researchers or research groups. The research proposal will be subject to the approval of the General Prize Committee.

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

Nomination Package

For candidates in the area of social sciences and humanities:
 

• a report (maximum two pages) on the reasons for which the nomination is being submitted (in Italian, French, English or German), in which the three of the candidate’s unique aspects that have had the greatest scientific impact on the subject area of the award must be illustrated;
• a list of the candidate’s five most significant publications;
• a complete and detailed bibliography of the candidate, including any translations;
• a curriculum vitae specifying, among other things, the position currently held, the main academic activities carried out, place and date of birth, nationality, residence and address;
• a recent photograph (in high resolution, jpg by e-mail to balzan@balzan.it), complete with copyright where applicable;
   

For candidates in the physical, mathematical, natural sciences and medicine:

• a report (1-2 pages) on the reasons for applying (in Italian, French, English or German);
• a brief description (one paragraph, in non-specialist language/terms) of the most significant results obtained by the candidate with reference to the subject area of the award;
• a list of the ten most important publications (complete with bibliographical citations): one or two should be highlighted as recommended reading for non-specialists;
• a curriculum vitae specifying, among other things, the position currently held, the main academic activities carried out, place and date of birth, nationality, residence and address;
• a recent photograph (in high resolution, jpg by e-mail to balzan@balzan.it), complete with copyright where applicable.
  Prizes may be awarded

Submission

All of the above documentation should be addressed to the

Chair of the General Prize Committee
International Balzan Foundation “Prize”
Piazzetta Umberto Giordano 4, 20122 Milano, Italia
balzan@balzan.it 

Self-applications will not be considered. Nominations, which must be signed by the nominators, must reach the General Prize Committee by March 15, 2025.