SIXTH EDITION WINNER: PHILIPPE AGHION
Philippe Aghion (France, 1956) is currently a professor at the Collège de France, the London School of Economics and INSEAD and an authority on areas such as the economics of innovation and growth. He is co-designer, together with Peter Howitt, of the Schumpeterian growth paradigm, which develops the concept of creative destruction, that is, the way in which technologies and ideas replace old ones, generating advances but also disruptions.
He is the author of fundamental works such as Endogenous Growth Theory (1998), Competition and Growth (2006) and The Power of Creative Destruction (2021) and has an extensive academic output in the main international journals, with more than 136,000 citations, which show his global impact.
Throughout his career, and in addition to the recent Nobel Prize in Economics, Aghion has received awards in the category of the Yrjö Jahnsson Prize (2001), the John von Neumann Prize (2009), the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2020), the Erasmus Medal (2022) and the Jean-Jacques Laffont Prize (2022).
The Barcelona Hypatia European Science Prize is awarded by the Barcelona City Council in collaboration with the Academia Europaea–Barcelona Knowledge Hub. Part of the Barcelona Science Plan, which seeks to boost the city of Barcelona as a European capital of science, the prize, featuring a significant monetary award, recognizes an outstanding researcher who has conducted her/his career primarily in Europe and at the highest international level, with a strong influence on various fields of knowledge and a positive impact on society.
Prize
Prize winners are selected by an International Jury consisting of five members: two designated by Academia Europaea; two by the Barcelona City Council; and one appointed jointly by Academia Europaea and by the Barcelona City Council.
The Hypatia Prize follows a three-year cycle and rotates each year among three major areas of knowledge: Science and Technology; Life and Health Sciences; and Humanities and Social Sciences.
Previous winners of the Barcelona Hypatia European Science Prize include
First edition (Science and Technology)
Hungarian mathematician László Lovász, former President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, was selected for his outstanding career in the field of mathematics and for his contribution to social progress through science.
Second edition (Life and Health Sciences)
Italian virologist Ilaria Capua, Director of the One Health Center of Excellence at the University of Florida, was chosen her leadership in the promotion of open access to genetic information on emerging viruses, and for the social impact that she has made through her contributions to the multidisciplinary concept of “one health,” encompassing human, animal and environmental health.
Third edition (Humanities and Social Sciences)
American philosopher Nancy Cartwright, Director of the Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society (CHESS) at Durham University (UK), was selected for her contributions to philosophical research, which have resulted in a new understanding of the nature of scientific theories and of causation.
Fourth edition (Science and Technology)
The international expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Nuria Oliver, scientific director and co-founder of the Ellis Foundation Alicante, has won the IV edition of the European Barcelona Hypatia Science Award (Hypatia Prize), promoted by the Barcelona City Council in collaboration with the Barcelona Knowledge Hub of the European Academy. The award, with an endowment of 30,000 euros, is given to her for her research in the development of new methods and AI systems to promote a positive social impact, a trajectory of exceptional international impact that has resulted in more than 40 registered patents.
Fifth edition (Life and Health Sciences)
Swedish biologist and geneticist Svante Pääbo, founder of the field of ancient genome studies, has been awarded the 5th edition of the Hipatia Prize. The international jury has recognized Svante Pääbo’s innovative work in sequencing the genomes of extinct species and populations, as well as his groundbreaking contributions to paleogenomics. Thanks to his research, we have uncovered the genetic connections between modern humans and extinct hominins, transforming our understanding of human evolution.
Sixth edition (Humanities and Social Sciences)
Philippe Aghion has been awarded the 6th edition of the Hipatia Prize. The international jury has unanimously agreed to propose him the winner of this edition for his pioneering contributions in Economy, exceptional recognition and profound policy influence; his work stands at the intersection of academic excellence and social relevance, shaping the future of growth, innovation and economic policy worldwide.