'Dutch Nobel Prize' for 4 top Dutch researchers

NWO Spinoza Prize for archaeology, entomology, physics and law

On 4 June, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced which four researchers will receive the NWO Spinoza prize for 2007. The prize is the biggest Dutch award in science. Each researcher receives one-and-a-half million euros to freely devote to his or her research. The researchers receive the prestigious prize for their outstanding, pioneering and inspiring scientific work.

The winners of the NWO Spinoza prize 2007 are:

• Prof. D.M. (Deirdre) Curtin, lawyer at Utrecht University. Curtin has made outstanding contributions to the development and promotion of international and European law and has developed groundbreaking visions for the governance of international organisations such as the European Union.
  
  
• Prof. M. (Marcel) Dicke, ecological entomologist at Wageningen University. Dicke discovered, for example, that in response to insect feeding plants produce specific volatile chemicals that attract enemies of their enemies.
  
  
• Prof. L.P. (Leo) Kouwenhoven, physicist at Delft University of Technology. Kouwenhovens groundbreaking work on so-called spin qubits is vitally important for the use of quantum information, for example in a fundamentally new type of computer.
  
  
• Prof. J.W.M. (Wil) Roebroeks, archaeologist at Leiden University. Roebroeks has made original observations on early hominids and the development of human society.

The NWO Spinoza prize, also viewed as the 'Dutch Nobel Prize', is awarded to Dutch researchers who rank among the world's top scientists. The laureates are internationally renowned, and know how to inspire young researchers.

This is the thirteenth occasion on which the Spinoza prizes have been awarded. The first occasion was in 1995. The awards are made on the basis of nominations. Those allowed to make nominations are the principals of universities, and the chairs of the departments of Literature and Physics of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Netherlands Society of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Dutch National Network of Female Professors, and the Social Sciences Council.

The official presentation of the monetary prize and the Spinoza statuette will take place on Wednesday 28 November 2007 in the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague.

ENCLOSURE WITH PRESS RELEASE NWO SPINOZA PRIZES 2007

Jury report for Prof. D.M. (Deirdre) Curtin:

Professor International and European Governance at Utrecht University

Professor Curtin receives the NWO Spinoza Prize 2007 for her outstanding contribution to the development and promotion of international and European law and for her groundbreaking visions concerning the governance of international organisations such as the European Union.