Government | Wednesday 5 April, 2017 11:30 am |

The King Faisal International Prize honours exceptional achievements in a number of key areas, including Arabic Language & Literature, Medicine, and Science. Among the winners in the 39th session of the award this year were four scientists and researchers.

Giving away the award, King Salman commended the efforts of the scientists and researchers in creating a better world. The King also appreciated the King Faisal International Prize for its key role in enriching knowledge and encouraging initiatives for the development of mankind.

King Salman handed over the King Faisal International Prize for Medicine to Professor Tadamitsu Kishimoto of Japan for developing a novel biologic therapy for autoimmune diseases. Kishimoto is the Professor of Immunology Frontier Research Center at Osaka University.

King Salman also gave away the King Faisal International Prize for Science; shared this year by Professor Daniel Loss and Professor Laurens Molenkamp, physicists from Switzerland and Germany. Professor Daniel Loss is the Professor of the Department of Physics, University of Basel, while Professor Laurens Molenkamp is Professor and Head, MBE Unit, University of Wurzburg.

Professor Daniel Loss won the award in recognition of his work on the theory of spin dynamics and spin coherence in quantum dots, which has practical applications in spin quantum computers. Professor Laurens Molenkamp was honoured for his work in the experimental field of spintronics.

Professor Ridwan Al-Sayyid of the University of Lebanon was recognized for his specialized publications and research that have enriched the Arabic Library.

Launched by the King Faisal Foundation and granted for the first time in 1979, the King Faisal International Prize recognizes the outstanding works of individuals and institutions in a number of key areas. Scientists who were awarded the King Faisal International Prize have gone on to receive other prestigious awards in following years; for example 18 King Faisal International Prize laureates went on to receive the Nobel Prize, while 13 won the Gairdner Foundation International Awards, 11 received the American National Medals of Science, and 9 were awarded the Lasker Medical Award; among other distinguished prizes.