Awards for the MacArthur Fellows Program, known as genius grants, will this year rise from US$500,000 to $625,000. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in Chicago, Illinois, makes unrestricted 5-year grants to recipients chosen for their creativity, innovation and potential to shape the future. Spokesman Andrew Solomon says that the increase is partly a response to inflation and is the programme's fourth rise since it began in 1981. The 2013 fellows will be announced on 25 September.