VinFuture Prize given to outstanding network scientists

In 2022 the annual awards attracted 970 nominations from over 70 countries, and the four most outstanding works, aligned with this year theme of “Reviving and Reshaping,” were chosen for the prizes, the organizers announced in Hanoi Tuesday.

The $3 million prize was awarded to Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, Dr. Vinton Gray Cerf, Dr. Emmanuel Desurvire, Dr. Robert Elliot Kahn, and Professor Sir David Neil Payne.

Berners-Lee of the U.K. invented the world wide web, wrote the first web browser and led the design and establishment of three critical internet standards, HTML, HTTP and URLs.

These have enabled the seamless sharing and use of information resources across the global Internet.

Americans Vinton Gray Cerf and Robert Elliot Kahn led the design and implementation of the transmission control protocol and internet protocol (TCP/IP), the bases for the functioning of today’s Internet.

The global network technology relies on optical fiber communication, the development of which was enabled by the work over five decades of Briton David Neil Payne.

His work related to fiber design, optical amplifiers, specialty fibers, and high-power lasers and amplifiers, which, together with the breakthrough work of French Emmanuel Desurvire on erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, made Internet transmission possible on a global scale thanks to their ability to repeatedly boost high-speed optical signals.

In addition to the grand prize, one special prize each worth US$500,000 was awarded to innovators in emerging fields, women innovators and innovators from developing countries.

The prize for Innovators from Developing Countries was awarded to Professor Thalappil Pradeep of India for inventing a low-cost filtration system to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater, helping hundreds of millions of people around the world living with contaminated water get access to clean water.

Dr. Demis Hassabis and Dr. John Jumper of the UK received the prize for Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Fields for their pioneering work on AlphaFold 2, an artificial intelligence program that has revolutionized the modeling of protein structures, accelerating advances in biomedicine, health and agriculture.

The Female Innovators prize was awarded to American Professor Pamela Christine Ronald for her breakthroughs in isolating the Sub1A gene and facilitate the development of submergence-tolerant rice varieties, helping feed millions of people in South and Southeast Asia.

The VinFuture Prize Foundation was founded by Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup, and his wife, Pham Thu Huong, with a vision to create meaningful change in the daily lives of millions of people.