Credit: © Stig Andersen/Nordisk Film

Further details about the Kavli Prize — which will be awarded in nanoscience, astrophysics and neuroscience — have been announced1. The deadline for nominations is 15 December and the first prizes — which may be shared by more than one winner — will be presented in Oslo next September. Each prize is worth $1 million.

The nanoscience prize will be awarded for "outstanding achievement in the science and application of the unique physical, chemical, and biological properties of atomic, molecular, macromolecular, and cellular structures and systems that are manifest in the nanometre scale". This could include work on molecular self-assembly, nanomaterials, nanoscale instrumentation, nanobiotechnology, macromolecular synthesis, molecular mechanics and related topics.

The Kavli Foundation is bankrolled by Fred Kavli (pictured), a Norwegian physicist who made his fortune by supplying sensors for aeronautic, automotive and industrial applications. The foundation also funds 15 Kavli Institutes around the world, including nanoscience centres at CalTech, Cornell and Delft, and a centre for bionanoscience and technology at Harvard.

The new prizes — which will be awarded every two years — are a joint venture between the Kavli Foundation, the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters, and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. The nanoscience prize committee will be chaired by Arne Skjeltorp of the University of Oslo and the other members will be Chunli Bai (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Mostafa El-Sayed (Georgia Tech), Klaus von Klitzing (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research) and Cherry Murray (Lawrence Livermore).