BALZAN PRIZE 2026 WINNERS ANNOUNCED

• Four prizes worth nearly £700,000 each, two in the arts and two in the sciences, promoting knowledge without borders
• British Biologist Ziheng Yang (UCL) among this year’s winners
• Special prize for humanitarian initiatives awarded to Emergency Response Rooms (Sudan)

Milan, Monday 7^th September 2026: The International Balzan Foundation has today announced the winners of the four 2026 Balzan Prizes, two in the sciences and two in the humanities, as well as the Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Fraternity Among Peoples.

Artificial communication, Jewish studies, molecular evolution and sustainable polymers are the four subject areas from which the candidates were chosen – representing spheres of knowledge that are highly relevant for our world today and for the progress of humanity.

The Winners of the Four 2026 Balzan Prizes

• Elena Esposito (Italy), Università di Bologna, for The Social Science of Digital Technology
• David Nirenberg (USA), Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, for Jewish Studies
• Rasmus Nielsen (USA-Denmark), University of California Berkeley, and Ziheng Yang (UK), University College London, for Molecular Evolution: Decoding Patterns of Genomic Change
• Geoffrey W. Coates (USA), Cornell University, and Marc A. Hillmyer (USA), University of Minnesota, for Biodegradable Polymers from Renewable Sources

The choice was based on the validity, current interest, and coherence of the research, identifying specific factors of excellence that can contribute to the understanding of our world and our time, promoting the advancement of knowledge without borders, in accordance with the guiding principles of the Balzan Foundation. Interdisciplinarity is the key criterion, based on the conviction that only meaningful exchanges between different fields of knowledge and research can enable us to tackle the complex problems facing nature and society.

Dubbed the “Nobel Prize of continental Europe”, the winners of the Balzan Prizes were announced by the President of the International Balzan Foundation Prize, Maria Cristina Messa, and the Chair of the Balzan General Prize Committee, Marta Cartabia, during a virtual press conference in Milan.

Every year, the International Balzan Foundation awards four prizes to scholars, artists, and scientists have distinguished themselves on an international level, selected by the General Prize Committee. The subjects are chosen from two general categories: literature, moral sciences, and the arts; and physical, mathematical, and natural sciences, and medicine. Unlike the Nobel Prize, the four specific subject areas change every year: this approach allows new or emerging lines of research to be recognized.

The value of each Balzan Prize is 750,000 Swiss Francs (approx. 695,000 GBP), half of which must be allocated to research projects carried out by young researchers.

The Winner of the Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Fraternity Among Peoples

• Emergency Response Rooms (Sudan)

The Prize for Humanity, Peace and Fraternity among Peoples is awarded by the General Prize Committee, assisted by a preparatory commission, at varying intervals of not less than three years. The award is intended to honour a person or an organisation that has achieved distinction for outstanding humanitarian work. The prize is also worth 750,000 Swiss francs.

The awards ceremony for the 2026 Balzan Prizes will held in Rome on 19 November 2026 in the presence of the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.

At the end of the announcement of the 2026 Balzan Prizes, the Chair of the General Prize Committee, Marta Cartabia, announced the subject areas of the awards for the coming year, 2027:

• European Constitutionalism
• The History of Modern and Contemporary Architecture
• Deep Earth Dynamics: Engine for Plate Tectonics and the Earth’s Surface Processes
• Plant Immunity and its Role in Pathogen Resistance

The Motivations for the 2026 Balzan Prizes

to Elena Esposito for The Social Science of Digital Technology

For her groundbreaking theoretical contribution to the social science of digital technology, and in particular for her concept of artificial communication, which reframes the question of artificial intelligence by showing that algorithms can participate in social exchange in the absence of understanding. For providing a rigorous and innovative framework that could transform social science engagement with artificial intelligence across every domain in which algorithmic systems are becoming active participants. For her sustained programme of empirical research applying these insights to algorithmic prediction in finance, medicine, and public policy.

to Rasmus Nielsen and Ziheng Yang for Molecular Evolution: Decoding Patterns of Genomic Change

For their pioneering and complementary contributions to molecular evolution, combining statistical theory, computational methods, and genomic analysis to reveal how natural selection shapes genes and populations, and for developing widely used tools that have transformed the study of evolutionary adaptation.

to David Nirenberg for Jewish Studies

For his ground-breaking scholarship and contributions on Judaism, anti-Judaism, and the dynamics of the relationship between Jews, Christians, and Muslims; for his meticulous research, theoretical insights on the fundamental interdependence of violence and tolerance, rigorous historical analyses, and command of a wide range of sources in multiple languages and spanning multiple disciplines; and for profoundly advancing our understanding of not only ancient, but also contemporary questions.

to Geoffrey W. Coates and Marc A. Hillmyer for Biodegradable Polymers from Renewable Sources

For their pioneering and collaborative development of sustainable polymers, combining molecular design and catalysis to transform renewable feedstocks and recovered carbon dioxide into high-performance, degradable and recyclable materials, and for advancing these discoveries from fundamental science to industrial materials and technologies.

The Motivation for the Prize for Humanity, Peace and Fraternity among Peoples

to Emergency Response Rooms for Humanity, Peace, and Fraternity among Peoples
For the extraordinary role it has played in providing on-the-ground assistance, solidarity and hope to communities affected by the civil war in Sudan. Through an extensive network of Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) and Local Coordination Councils (LCCs) – born out of civic engagement and grassroots participation – the movement has been able to fill the void left by the collapse of institutions and the difficulties in accessing international aid. In particular, the Balzan Prize money will be used to strengthen activities related to mental health care, which are of the utmost importance in a context marked by violence, displacement and a severe humanitarian crisis.

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