34 Candidates for 2007 Vision Award

Thirty-four candidates from five continents have either applied or been nominated for the inaugural António Champalimaud Vision Award. The winner will be selected by a panel of international jurors.

7th February 2007. The inaugural António Champalimaud Vision Award will be given to one of thirty-four candidates, originating from five global continents.  This year the award will be given to organisations or groups that have achieved real, perceptible progress on the ground, particularly in developing countries, in the fight against blindness.  Next year the Award will be recognise groups or scientific organisations that have made significant contributions in the area of vision research.
Among the candidates there are many organisations that are based in developed countries but carry out work relevant to countries in Africa and Asia.  There are also a considerable number of candidates based in Africa and Asia which, according to the World Health Organisation, are the continents with the highest rate of vision related illness and blindness.

The period of submission for applications was between October and December 2006. The António Champalimaud Science Award carries one of the highest monetary prizes (1 million Euros) of any science prize and is, financially, the World’s largest in the field of vision.

The jury of the award consists of esteemed scientists and individuals who are prominent figures in public life or academia. They are:  Mark Bear, Jacques Delors, José Cunha-Vaz, António Guterres, Gullapalli N. Rao, Mary Robinson, Joshua Sanes, Amartya Sen, Carla Shatz, Paul Sieving, Alfred Sommer, and Susumu Tonegawa. This initiative has the full support of the United Nations and of the Vision 2020 (The Right to Sight) programme. The winner will be announced in September 2007.

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