With a big smile on his face, Prof Dr Bram Nauta received the Stevin Prize on Wednesday 4 October. Together with the Spinoza Prize, the prize is the highest award given in the Netherlands for scientific research. The festive ceremony took place in the Diligentia Theatre in The Hague. The Stevin Prize was also awarded to Prof Dr Corien Prins of Tilburg University, the Spinoza Prize to Prof Toby Kiers of the VU and Prof Joyeeta Gupta of the University of Amsterdam.
Stevin Prize
The Spinoza Prize and the Stevin Prize are the highest awards in science for a researcher in the Netherlands, with the Stevin Prize being for a scientist who has achieved particular success in knowledge utilisation for society. By knowledge utilisation, NWO understands the "application of knowledge through productive interactions with an interested target group to create societal - including economic - value". Knowledge utilisation must have demonstrably led to innovative applications, ideas and networks in practice, in which the researcher himself has played a decisive role.
To receive the prize, researchers must be nominated. NWO awards a maximum of two prizes per year, one is earmarked for the social sciences and humanities and one for the sciences/life sciences (including engineering and medical sciences).
Groundbreaking work
Bram Nauta, professor of Integrated Circuit Design at the University of Twente, is a globally recognised expert in on-chip circuit design. His innovations have had a direct impact on widely used electronics. Smartphones became more compact and microelectronics became more energy efficient thanks to innovations such as the 'Nauta circuit'. His pioneering work was also behind wireless communication technologies such as 5G, wifi and bluetooth.
