The International Balzan Foundation has today announced the winners of the four 2026 Balzan Prizes, two in the sciences and two in the humanities, as well as the Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Fraternity Among Peoples.
Sustainable polymers is one of the four subject areas from which the candidates were chosen, with the others being artificial communication, Jewish studies and molecular evolution – they represent spheres of knowledge that are highly relevant for our world today and for the progress of humanity.
The winners of the four 2026 Balzan prizes
- Geoffrey W. Coates (USA), Cornell University,and Marc A. Hillmyer (USA), University of Minnesota,for Biodegradable Polymers from Renewable Sources
- Elena Esposito (Italy), Università di Bologna, for The Social Science of Digital Technology
- David Nirenberg (USA), Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, for Jewish Studies
- Rasmus Nielsen (USA-Denmark), University of California Berkeley,and Ziheng Yang (UK),University College London, forMolecular Evolution: Decoding Patterns of Genomic Change
The choice was based on the validity, current interest, and coherence of the research, identifying specific factors of excellence that can contribute to the understanding of our world and our time, promoting the advancement of knowledge without borders, in accordance with the guiding principles of the Balzan Foundation. Interdisciplinarity is the key criterion, based on the conviction that only meaningful exchanges between different fields of knowledge and research can enable us to tackle the complex problems facing nature and society.
Dubbed the “Nobel Prize of continental Europe”, the winners of the Balzan Prizes were announced by the President of the International Balzan Foundation Prize, Maria Cristina Messa, and the Chair of the Balzan General Prize Committee, Marta Cartabia, during a virtual press conference in Milan.
Every year, the International Balzan Foundation awards four prizes to scholars, artists, and scientists have distinguished themselves on an international level, selected by the General Prize Committee. The subjects are chosen from two general categories: literature, moral sciences, and the arts; and physical, mathematical, and natural sciences, and medicine. Unlike the Nobel Prize, the four specific subject areas change every year: this approach allows new or emerging lines of research to be recognized.
The value of each Balzan Prize is 750,000 Swiss Francs (approx. 695,000 GBP), half of which must be allocated to research projects carried out by young researchers.
