Sunday Times 2
Facebook and Google create ‘new Nobel prize’
View(s):By Emily Davies
Google and Facebook founders and their spouses have set aside their rivalries to create the most lucrative prize in science history – more than double the value of the Nobel prize. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki have joined forces to launch the Breakthrough in Life Sciences Award, worth $3million (£2 million).
They were asked to create the award by venture capitalist Yuri Milner, who modelled the prize on a physics award he set up last year. Despite the occasionally tense relations between Google and Facebook, the board of directors will be made up of Zuckerberg and Chan, Brin and Wojcicki. Mr Zuckerberg told France 24: ‘Priscilla and I are honoured to be part of this.
He said: ‘We believe the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences has the potential to provide a platform for other models of philanthropy, so people everywhere have an opportunity at a better future.’ Mr Brin, a Russian American entrepreneur, said: ‘Curing a disease should be worth more than a touchdown,’ making reference to the huge salaries earned by professional U.S. football players.
Mr Brin’s wife and co-founder of personal DNA testing service 23andMe, Mrs Wojcicki, said: ‘We are thrilled to support scientists who think big, take risks and have made a significant impact on our lives. ‘These scientists should be household names and heroes in society.’ The board for the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences will be headed by Apple chairman Art Levinson, in the first alliance of its kind in Silicone Valley.
Mr Levinson told The Guardian: ‘Yuri drove this. In my recollection this has never happened before. ‘It’s a lot of money, yes. But the people who make game-changing contributions are often scientists who toil without much recognition or fanfare and without much compensation. To my mind these are true heroes.’
Mr Milner, who bought a $200million stake in Facebook in 2009, revealed the reason behind his personal drive to launch the award. ‘Unfortunately I have two very close relatives with very bad diseases. One of them is cancer. ‘This is part of my personal connection with this prize.’ He added: ‘Young people will hopefully get the message that not only the careers in sports or entertainment can get a public recognition.’
In the first group of commendations 11 scientists have been awarded a total of $33million, but in future there will be five winners per year. In future there will be an annual amount of $15million set aside for winners of the prize, which seeks to reward research aimed at extending human life. One of the winners, Cornelia Bargmann, 51, said: ‘I had to sit down for a while, I thought it must be a practical joke.
‘The scale of this is so outsized I think it will have a huge impact on the life sciences.’ The prize of $3million is more than double the $1.1million given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Science to Nobel Prize winners. There will be no awards ceremony but this year’s winners, who are from the U.S, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands, will select future award candidates and will be expected to give talks and interviews throughout 2013.
Each year those who have won the prize will join an ever-increasing selection committee who will vote secretly on future winners. There will be no limit to how many people can share an award, unlike a Nobel Prize which is limited to three shared winners.
© Daily Mail, London
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