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A full auditorium at the Prague Planetarium during the Neuron Awards ceremony

Neuron Awards

Recording from the Neuron 2025 Awards Ceremony

About the Neuron Awards

The prestigious Neuron Award recognises the professional achievements of scientists, and its laureates are chosen by the Czech scientific community. Scientific Council awards prizes in seven categories each year, honouring both young talented scientists and scientists with international reach. The Neuron Prize laureates receive a personal financial bonus due to our patrons' donations.

Nominations for the 2026 Neuron Awards are closed

Candidates could be nominated until 30 April in these four categories

More information
Hosts on stage at the 2025 Neuron Awards, before a wall of lit-up questions

2025 Neuron Awards: Curiosity Connects Us

Meet the new laureates, who received their Neuron Award on 18 January 2026.

More about the 2025 edition

The award's guarantor is Martina Benešová-Schäfer

Neuron Awards categories

Skleněná trofej Ceny Neuron
Skleněná trofej Ceny Neuron pro nadějné vědce
Skleněná trofej Ceny Neuron pro excelentní mladé vědce
Skleněný hranol Ceny Neuron Rising Star
Skleněná trofej Ceny Neuron za propojení vědy a byznysu

Neuron Award

The award goes to prominent Czech scientists who work in the Czech Republic and abroad for their long-term work or exceptional discovery that has contributed, in a fundamental manner, to the development of science, strengthened the name of the Czech Republic, and provided inspiration for other members of the scientific community. The Neuron Prize is associated with a financial bonus of 1,500,000 CZK. Laureates are selected by an independent Scientific Council comprising both local and international scientific experts.

Laureates of Neuron Prizes

The Neuron Awards honour the best scientists in the Czech Republic across seven scientific fields. Meet the laureates of the individual fields and editions:

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Selected laureates

Neuron Awards ceremonies

  • Neuron Awards 2025

    The 2025 Neuron Awards gala took place in the singular setting of the Prague Planetarium. The ceremony brought together leading figures of Czech science, patrons, partners and guests, and made room for inspiration, respect and the joy of discovery. The evening was hosted by the journalist and science populariser Daniel Stach. Curiosity Connects Us became the overarching theme of the 2025 edition, and it shaped both the atmosphere and the message of the evening.

  • Neuron Awards 2024

    Remarkable scientific personalities along with the beauty of science were celebrated at 2024 Neuron Awards. The Neuron Foundation honoured one scientist with the Neuron Award 2024 for Lifetime Contribution to Science, seven promising scientists, and one scientific patent successfully transferred to business. The Neuron Award for Fostering Love of Science, recognizing extraordinary teachers and science popularizers, had its debut at the awards ceremony. Science is Beautiful was the overarching theme of the awards ceremony.

  • Neuron Awards 2023

    The prestigious Neuron Awards 2023 already have their laureates. The Neuron Foundation for the Support of Science has honored seven promising scientists, with the most women among the laureates in the history of this award. The Neuron Award for connecting science and business recognized one transfer of scientific discovery. The highest award, the Neuron Award 2023 for lifelong contribution to science, went to an excellent personality whose contribution exceeded the boundaries of Czech science.

  • Neuron Awards 2022

    The Neuron Endowment Fund for the Support of Science has granted the Neuron Prizes to the best Czech scientists. Six promising scientists, one project of scientific transfer focusing on energy storage, and two scientists whose lifelong achievements have enriched global research received the prestigious award during the gala evening.

  • Neuron Awards 2021

    On 28 September 2021 the Neuron Endowment Fund presented three Neuron Awards for Lifetime Contribution to Science, seven awards for promising young scientists, and — for the first time — the Neuron Award for Connecting Science and Business. The gala evening in the Pantheon of the National Museum and its live broadcast were hosted by Karel Kovář, Kovy. The next day the laureates met for a debate at Opero, answering questions from Ondřej Cihlář and the public.

  • Neuron Awards 2020

    The eradication of smallpox, the treatment of people with HIV, the development of antivirals — we owe these and many other global achievements to Tomáš Cihlář and Karel Raška. On 28 September 2020 the Neuron Endowment Fund awarded them the Extraordinary Neuron Awards. The gala evening at the State Opera closed with Elegance of a Molecule, a Dejvice Theatre production supported by the Neuron Endowment Fund.

  • Neuron Awards 2019

    On 6 November 2019, in the hall of the National Museum, the Neuron Endowment Fund for the Support of Science presented the Neuron Awards for the tenth time to eight scientists of international standing. The highest honour — the Neuron Award for Lifetime Contribution to Science — went to the plant biologist Jiří Friml, and the Neuron Award for Important Scientific Discovery to the mathematician Jan Nekovář. Six talented young scientists were also honoured.

  • Neuron Awards 2018

    On 3 December, in the presence of patrons and distinguished guests from cultural, public and media life, we presented ten awards at the Professional House to the best Czech scientists across seven fields. The biologist prof. Jan Klein received the Neuron Award for Contribution to World Science, three awards went for an important scientific discovery, and seven to promising young scientists. The evening was hosted by Světlana Witovská and Martin Myšička.

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