Sackler Prize


The Sackler Prize is named for the Sackler family and can indicate any of the following three awards established by Raymond Sackler and his wife Beverly Sackler currently bestowed by the Tel Aviv University. The Sackler family is known for its role in the opioid epidemic in the United States, has been the subject of numerous lawsuits and critical media coverage, and been dubbed the "most evil family in America", and "the worst drug dealers in history". The family has engaged in extensive efforts to promote the Sackler name, that has been characterized as reputation laundering. In 2023 the Sackler family's name was removed from the name of the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine. The 2024 prize winners responded by demanding that the prize be renamed.

Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences

The Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in the Physical Sciences is a $40,000 prize in the disciplines of either physics or chemistry awarded by Tel Aviv University each year for young scientists who have made outstanding and fundamental contributions in their fields.
There is an age limit for all nominees. Nominations for the Sackler Prize can be made by individuals in any of the following categories:
1) Faculty of Physics, Astronomy or Chemistry departments in institutions of higher learning worldwide.
2) Presidents, Rectors, vice-presidents, Provosts and Deans, of institutions of higher learning worldwide.
3) Directors of laboratories worldwide.
4) Sackler Prize laureates.
For 2008, the age limit has been raised to 45 and the prize money to $50,000.

Winners

Source: Chemistry –
Physics –
  • 2000 prize for Physics : Michael R. Douglas and Juan Martin Maldacena, for work "beyond the 1975 synthesis known as the 'Standard Model' and within the framework of String or M-theory."
  • 2001 prize for Chemistry : Moungi G. Bawendi and James R. Heath "for their seminal contributions to the discovery, development and fundamental and applied studies of nanoscale materials."
  • 2002 prize for Physics : Leo P. Kouwenhoven for the "understanding of electronic states and charge transport in sub-micron systems" and Ullrich Steiner "for innovative discoveries in the analysis and control of the structure."
  • 2003 prize for Chemistry : Chad A. Mirkin and Xiaoliang Sunney Xie "for their seminal contributions to the discovery, design, fabrication and characterization of nano-structure materials, including complex macromolecules and single molecules with biological significance."
  • 2004 prize for Physics : Andrea M. Ghez "for her pioneering high-resolution infrared observations that provide evidence for, and establish the mass of, the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy" and Adam G. Riess "for his contributions to the observational study of distant Type Ia supernovae that reveal the accelerating expansion of the universe and the possible existence of dark energy."
  • 2005 prize for Chemistry : Christoph Dellago, Christopher Jarzynski and David Reichman, "for their ground-breaking developments in statistical mechanics and seminal contributions to the dynamics of disordered condensed matter."
  • 2006 prize in Physics: Yuri Kovchegov for 'his work in quantum chromodynamics at very high energies and gluon densities' and Thomas Glasmacher for 'developing new sensitive methods of studying nuclear structure, utilizing Coulomb excitation with fast beams of rare isotopes'.
  • 2007 for Chemistry : Christopher C. Cummins and John F. Hartwig
  • 2008 prize for Physics : Nima Arkani-Hamed for 'his novel, deep and highly influential contributions to new paradigms for physics beyond the Standard Model at the TeV energy scale, especially the ideas of large extra dimensions and of the large hierarchy of strengths of fundamental forces in Nature, including gravity; supersymmetry model-building; theories of flavor and of neutrino masses; and models of the cosmological constant'
  • 2009 prize for Chemistry : Phil S. Baran for 'his seminal contribution through a series of groundbreaking syntheses that demonstrated the advantages of the novel oxidative CC bond formation in terms of efficiency, practicality, stereocontrol and "redox-economy"'; Matthew D. Shair for 'his seminal contribution to the syntheses of complex natural products by using new cascade reactions to rapidly achieve molecular complexity' and Brian M. Stoltz for 'his seminal contribution through the development of enantioselective methods for oxidation and catalytic bond construction'.
  • 2010 prize for Physics : Mark L. Brongersma for 'outstanding experimental and theoretical research in nano-plasmonics and nano-photonics; in particular on the emission of light from nano-structures that support propagating surface plasmons' and Stefan A. Maier for 'outstanding theoretical and experimental research in nano-plasmonics and nano-photonics; in particular on the propagation of surface plasmons-polaritons along a chain of metallic nano-particles'
  • 2011 prize for Chemistry : Gregory D. Scholes for 'his seminal contribution to the field of ultrafast spectroscopy' and Martin T. Zanni for 'his seminal contribution to the field of ultrafast spectroscopy'.
  • 2012 prize for Physics : David Charbonneau for 'his breakthrough discoveries, including the first detections of transiting extra-solar planets and spectroscopic observations of their atmosphere' and Sara Seager for 'her brilliant theoretical studies, including analysis of the atmospheres and internal compositions of extra-solar planets'.
  • 2013 prize for Chemistry : Melanie S. Sanford and Jin-Quan Yu for 'their seminal contributions to the catalytic functionalization of carbon – hydrogen bonds'
  • 2014 prize for Physics : B. Andrei Bernevig for 'his theoretical contribution towards a first realization of a two dimensional topological insulator'; Liang Fu for 'his contribution to generalization of the concept of topological insulators from two to three dimensions' and Xiaoliang Qi for 'his contribution to the prediction of the quantum anomalous Hall effect in magnetic topological insulators'
  • 2016 prize for Chemistry : John Morton for 'his outstanding and imaginative applications of magnetic resonance to quantum information storage and processing'; Guido Pintacuda for 'his elegant methodological advances in solid state NMR spectroscopy' and Charalampos Babis Kalodimos for 'detailed characterizations of structure, function and dynamics in a number of challenging and important biological systems through solution NMR spectroscopy'.
  • 2017 prize for Biophysics : Tuomas Knowles for 'elucidating physical principles of amyloid fibril formation with important applications in biology and medicine'.
  • 2018 price for Physics : Zohar Komargodski and Pedro Vieira for 'their outstanding work probing QFT in non-perturbative regimes'.
  • 2019 prize for Chemistry: Christopher Chang, and Matthew Disney.

    Sackler Prize in Biophysics

The is intended to encourage dedication to science, originality and excellence by rewarding outstanding scientists. The prizes are awarded by Tel Aviv University.
Recipients have been:
  • 2006: Harvey T. McMahon and Paul R. Selvin
  • 2007: Clare M. Waterman-Storer and Frank Jülicher.
  • 2008: David Baker ; Martin Gruebele and Jonathan S. Weissman
  • 2010: Gerhard Hummer and Yigong Shi
  • 2011: Stephen R. Quake and Xiaowei Zhuang

    Sackler Prize in Music Composition

There is also a Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Music Composition, the purpose of which is to provide financial support for the creation of new musical works, and which is administered by the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut. Established in 2000, the international award offers a substantial recognition including public performances, recordings, and a prize of $25,000.