In this new addition to Editors’ Update, we ask four editors for their views on a relevant topic. This issue, we focus on the recently awarded Nobel Prize, as well as other prestigious prizes across the sciences.

The Nobel Prize has been awarded every year since 1901 for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. Originally founded by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, author and pacifist, the prize consists of a medal, diploma and cash sum of more than US$ 1 million per full award.

Of the total 768 individuals who have received the prize, the youngest so far is 25-year-old Lawrence Bragg, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics with his father in 1915. The oldest Laureate is Raymond Davis Jr., who was nearly 88 years old when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002.

The prizes are traditionally presented in Stockholm on 10 December – the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. You can find a full list of the 2006 winners on the  Nobel Prize website, but we are proud to say that the following 2006 winners have published with Elsevier:

John C. Mather and George F. Smoot – Nobel Prize in Physics

Andre Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello – Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Edmund S. Phelps – The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

Roger D. Kornberg – Nobel Prize in Chemistry

In recognition of their accomplishments, we are pleased to make available free of charge the full text of the 102 articles to which these extraordinary scholars have contributed.

The Nobel Prize undoubtedly draws much attention and respect, but how do other fields of scientific research recognize their high achievers? We asked four editors to comment on the following questions:

1) How is the Nobel Prize viewed in your field?

2) The Nobel Prize is one thing, but is there a prize in your field that is very prestigious, and why?

Stanley Brodsky, Professor
Theoretical Physics, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University

1)1) The Nobel Prize is indeed the highest honor one can receive in high-energy physics. It encourages governmental support of fundamental science. One sees this, for example, in Japan, where the entire population is aware of Japanese contributions to neutrino physics and other fields and is very proud of the physicists who have won this prestigious award.

2) Another prestigious prize in my field is the Wolf Prize. Founded by Dr. Ricardo Wolf, a German-born inventor and former Cuban ambassador to Israel, this prize has been awarded annually since 1978. You can find a list of previous physics winners on   Wikipedia.

The American Physical Society also gives out more than 40 different awards and prizes in recognition of outstanding achievements in research, education and public service. One of these is the annual Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics for outstanding publications in the field of mathematical physics. Another is the J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, which recognizes and encourages outstanding achievement in particle theory. I was very honored to have been selected as the recipient of this prize for 2007.

William John Koros, Professor
Roberto C. Goizueta Chair in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Membranes, Georgia Institute of Technology

1) ) The Nobel Prize is considered by the membrane community to be the most prestigious recognition of accomplishment in chemistry and physics. Perhaps the closest to a synthetic membrane Nobel Prize winner would be R. A. Zsigmondy, who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1925. Zsigmondy refined the ideas of Sir Thomas Graham, a 19th century pioneer in membranes, by noting that transformation between ‘crystalloid’ and ‘colloid’ states could be induced. His work laid the foundation for modern synthetic membrane science and technology.

The practical nature of our field places it at the periphery of chemistry and physics and within the realm of engineering and technology. Therefore, while our field greatly respects Nobel Prize winners, we are not in awe of them. Rather, we seek to apply the knowledge that they and other ‘non-Nobel’ scientists acquire to advance the field of ‘membranology’.

2) To many, I think the Alan S. Michaels Award for Innovation in Membrane Science and Technology might be considered the most prestigious award in the synthetic membrane field. This award consists of a US$ 10,000 prize awarded by the North American Membrane Society to individuals who have made breakthrough contributions to the membrane field. It is a truly international award named in honor of Alan Michaels, one of the great innovators and pioneers in membrane science and technology. Michaels’ work led to breakthroughs that helped redefine the membrane field. It has only been awarded twice to date, but in both cases, it has gone to individuals who are tremendously respected for their innovations and contributions to our field.

Joanna Kargul, PhD
Managing Editor of The International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology

1) The Nobel Prizes in my research fields (Chemistry and Physiology or Medicine) are regarded as the most prestigious awards given to those who have contributed the most to unraveling the mechanisms of the fundamental biochemical and cellular processes, or have made technological advances that affect the whole research community. My colleagues and I wait with great anticipation for the announcement of each year's winners.

I am privileged to know and collaborate with one such outstanding scientist, John Walker (Cambridge), who, in 1997, shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism of ATP synthase (the enzyme producing the cellular energy storage compound ATP). Such scientific interaction is a dream come true for me, and it is tremendously inspiring to be involved in tackling scientific problems, the solutions for which can benefit others.

2) The European Molecular Biology Organization Gold Medal is awarded annually to a young European researcher for his or her outstanding contribution to molecular life sciences. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious award of its kind in Europe. It opens doors to significant research funding and brings recognition to up-and-coming European scientists.

The Fellowship of the Royal Society of London (the United Kingdom’s national academy of sciences) is another extremely prestigious award. It is looked upon as the key to the most elite scientific club in the United Kingdom.

Bruce J. Hillman, MD
Theodore E. Keats Professor of Radiology at the University of Virginia and
Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of the American College of Radiology

1) Although there have been relatively few prizes awarded to the developers of advances in medical imaging, I believe most radiologists consider the Nobel Prize to be the epitome of recognition for scientific achievement. The first prize in Physics (1901) was awarded to Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, whose discovery of the X-ray is generally considered the founding event of the specialty. Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes (Physics, 1903, shared with Paul Curie and Henri Becquerel, and Chemistry, 1911) for her work in radioactivity.

More recent prizes celebrate the development of both computed tomography (CT) (Cormack and Houndsfield, 1979) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (Lauterbur and Mansfield, 2003) – both in the category of Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Hans Ringertz, a radiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, chaired the Medicine or Physiology Prize Committee in 2003.

2) There is no award in radiology that could be considered a ‘Nobel Prize’ for the specialty, although The Radiological Society of North America annually recognizes a Researcher of the Year.