The ceremony for the award of the European Inventor Prizes for 2006 has been held in Brussels. The Jury, chaired by former Dutch premier Wim Kok, chose six winners for the six categories contested: the eighteen finalists are the owners of patents issued by the European Patents Office between 1991 and 2000. For the “industry” category the winners are the Pole Janowicz and the German Hollenberg for research in the field of vaccines against Hepatitis B. For the category “small and medium businesses” the prize went to four Dutch scientists led by Stephen P.A. Fodor for the invention of a DNA chip for genetic research. Peter Gründberg of the Jülich Research Centre was awarded the prize for the category “Research Institutes and Universities” thanks to an invention that has permitted the volume of data stored on the hard disks of computers to be increased. The Academy of Sciences in Prague won the Prize reserved for “New Member States” for the synthesis of Prodrug , a series of new wide-spectrum antiviral drugs. For the category “Non-European Inventors” the prizewinners are the Americans Larry Gold e Craig Tuerk for their patent Selex that blocks the cellular degeneration of the eyes. Lastly, the lifetime achievement award went to the Italian Federico Faggin for having invented the famous microchip in the early Seventies. For further information: www.european-inventor.org.
