Marcel Benoist Prize

Marcel Benoist Prize
Prix Marcel Benoist
Awarded for	Useful scientific discovery
Sponsor	Marcel Benoist Foundation
Country	Switzerland
First awarded	1920
Official website	www.marcel-benoist.org

The Marcel Benoist Prize, offered by the Marcel Benoist Foundation, is a monetary prize that has been offered annually since 1920 to a scientist of Swiss nationality or residency who has made the most useful scientific discovery. Emphasis is placed on those discoveries affecting human life. Since 1997, candidates in the humanities have also been eligible for the prize.

The Marcel Benoist Foundation was established by the will of the French lawyer Marcel Benoist, a wartime resident of Lausanne, who died in 1918. It is managed by a group of trustees comprising the Swiss interior minister and heads of the main Swiss universities. It is often dubbed the "Swiss Nobel Prize."

History

The first award was given to immunologist Maurice Arthus (1862–1945) at the University of Lausanne. Other winners have included computer scientist Niklaus Wirth, astronomer Michel Mayor, and cardiologist Max Holzmann. As of 2003, nine Marcel Benoist winners have also won the Nobel Prize.

In 2009, Françoise Gisou van der Goot (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) is the first women to won the Marcel Benoist Prize.

Laureates

2

See also

• Science and technology in Switzerland
• Prizes named after people
• Latsis Foundation
• Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine

External links

• Official website