Beyond the Nobels: The Other Big Science Prizes

For more than 120 years, the Nobel Prizes have been the world’s highest honour in science — celebrating discoveries in medicine, physics, and chemistry since 1901. However, as science has expanded and become more interconnected, many significant works now fall outside Alfred Nobel’s original categories. To fill this gap, other global awards have emerged — big, bold, and just as respected.

One of them is the Abel Prize for Mathematics. Started in 2002 and valued at approximately $750,000, it celebrates top minds in mathematics. The 2024 winner was Japan’s Masaki Kashiwara for combining algebra, geometry and equations in new ways. Only one woman, Karen Uhlenbeck, has won it in 2019. Younger mathematicians look instead to the Fields Medal, often referred to as the “young person’s Nobel,” which is given only to those under 40.

In medicine, the Lasker Awards are another global spotlight. First given in 1945, they honour researchers whose work improves human health. Many winners later go on to claim the Nobel itself. The 2025 Lasker winners studied the hidden complexity of human cells and new treatments for genetic diseases.

For computing and technology, the Turing Award — founded in honour of computer pioneer Alan Turing — is the biggest prize. Worth $1 million and backed by Google, it has gone to inventors behind artificial intelligence and cryptography. The 2025 winners, Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton, developed the “reinforcement learning” system now used in AI tools worldwide.

Science also stretches to space and the brain. The Kavli Prizes, each worth $1 million, celebrate breakthroughs in astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience. In 2024, winners helped explain how humans recognise faces and how planets form far from Earth.

The environment has its own “Nobel” — the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, created in 1973. This year, South Americans Sandra Díaz and Eduardo Brondízio won for linking biodiversity to human wellbeing.

Earth scientists have the Vetlesen Prize, which is awarded roughly every three years. Past winners discovered the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs and contributed to the development of the theory of plate tectonics.

In Israel, the Wolf Prize honours excellence in science and art, often regarded as a precursor to the Nobel Prize. Furthermore, in Japan, the Kyoto Prize celebrates those who shine in technology, science, or philosophy, with winners in 2025 including Shun-ichi Amari for advancing artificial intelligence.

For inventions that change daily life, the Millennium Technology Prize from Finland and America’s Draper Prize for Engineering reward innovators whose ideas make life easier and safer.

Then there is the playful side, exemplified by the Ig Nobel Prize, which is given to humorous yet thought-provoking research, such as painting cows with zebra stripes to deter fly bites.

While the Nobel remains the grandest stage, these prizes show that great science now wears many crowns, proving that innovation, in any form, deserves its own moment in the spotlight.