TheHeineken Prizes for Arts and Sciences consist of 11 awards biannually bestowed byRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The prizes are named in honor of Henry Pierre Heineken, son of founderGerard Adriaan Heineken,Alfred Heineken, former chairman ofHeineken Holdings, andCharlene de Carvalho-Heineken, current chair of the Heineken Prizes Foundations, which fund all Heineken Prizes for Arts and Sciences. Thirteen winners of theDr H. P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics or theDr A. H. Heineken Prize for Medicine subsequently were awarded aNobel Prize.
The five science prizes ($200,000 each) are:
1. Dr H. P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics[1]
2–4. Dr A. H. Heineken Prizes for History,[2] Medicine[3] and Environmental Sciences[4]
5. C. L. de Carvalho-Heineken Prize for Cognitive Sciences[5]
In 1988, the Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for Art was established to be awarded to an outstanding artist working in the Netherlands. The prize is €100,000, half of which is to be spent on a publication and/or exhibit.[6]
Since 2010,Heineken Young Scientists Awards are given to young talent in similar research fields as theDr H. P. Heineken,Dr A. H. Heineken andC. L. de Carvalho-Heineken Prizes.[7]
The selection system of the Heineken Prizes can be compared to that of the Nobel Prizes. Scientists from all over the world are invited to nominate fellow scientists for the Heineken Prizes. The Royal Netherlands Academy appoints special committees consisting of eminent scientists and chaired by a member of the board of one of the academy's two divisions. Both members and nonmembers of the academy are eligible for membership of these committees. An independent jury of members of the academy, acting in a personal capacity, chooses the winners of the Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for Art.
The Heineken Prizes are awarded in a special session of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, which takes place every even year at theBeurs van Berlage in Amsterdam.[8] In 2002, 2004,[9] 2006,[10] 2008,[11] 2010[12] and 2012[13] the Prizes were presented by thePrince of Orange.
The following winners of the Heineken Prizes for Medicine and Biochemistry and Biophysics have since won aNobel Prize: