Vietnam’s VinFuture Foundation has decided to close the nomination portal for the VinFuture Prize 2021 after receiving nearly 600 nominations from more than 60 countries.

The VinFuture Prize, Vietnam’s first global science and technology prize, has attracted prominent scientists and the world's leading research and academic institutions as well as innovators from developing countries.

Members of VinFuture Prize Council. Photo: VinFuture

Nearly 100 nominated projects belong to the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists, many of whom are laureates of prestigious awards, including the Nobel Prize, the Breakthrough Prize, the Tang Prize, the Japan Prize, among others.

In the time ahead, nominations will be reviewed by a twelve-member Pre-Screening Committee, prominent scientists and experts from various disciplines and countries, who will present the shortlisted candidates to the Prize Council in August 2021.

In addition to the impressive number of nominations and the prestige of nominated scientists and researchers, the VinFuture Prize nominations also show diversity and depth of researches that address humanity's common challenges.

The VinFuture Prize will be awarded to innovators whose work has been proven to create the largest impact on humanity. The prize comprises a grand prize of US$3 million and three special prizes worth US$500,000 each.

The list of the VinFuture Prize winners will be announced in December 2021 and the official awards ceremony will be held in Vietnam in January 2022.

The VinFuture Prize was founded by Vietnam’s billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, founder and chairman of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, and his wife, Pham Thu Huong, and set to become one of the world’s largest annual prizes in the tech and science fields.

Chairman Vuong, considered Vietnam's richest man whose net worth reached US$6.6 billion on Forbes’ real-time list in December 2020, and Huong have initially pledged US$100 million to fund VinFuture Foundation, which presents the awards annually.