Shaw Prize introduces Computer Science category with US$1.2mn award

The Shaw Prize has established a new prize category, Computer Science, its first major expansion in over two decades, with a monetary award of US$1.2 million, according to a statement released by The Shaw Prize Foundation on Wednesday.

Founded in 2002 by media mogul the late Sir Run Run Shaw, and first awarded in 2004, the Prize has honoured over 110 exceptional individuals in Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences. 

The fourth prize category was introduced in response to Computer Science rapidly transforming every domain of our lives and scientific inquiry, and to celebrate the field’s foundational advances and their far-reaching impact on humanity.

“Computer Science is bursting with bold questions that push human thinking to new limits,”Raymond Chan Wai-Man, chair of The Shaw Prize Foundation, said, calling the addition a natural extension of Shaw’s vision.

Kenneth Young, chair of The Shaw Prize Council and vice chair of The Board of Adjudicators, emphasized that the new Prize will operate in parallel with the three existing categories, following the same governance and selection guidelines. 

Tony Chan Fan-cheong, former president of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, will be serving as Chair of The Planning Committee for The Shaw Prize in Computer Science.

Additionally, Jennifer Chayes, dean of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society at the University of California, Berkeley, also served as inaugural chair of the Selection Committee.