Laureate - RAINER WEISS

The Shaw Prize was established under the vision and generosity of the late Mr Run Run Shaw in 2002. It is an international award to honour individuals who are currently active in their respective fields and who have recently achieved distinguished and significant advances, who have made outstanding contributions in academic and scientific research or applications, or who in other domains have achieved excellence. The award is dedicated to furthering societal progress, enhancing quality of life, and enriching humanity's spiritual civilisation.

The Shaw Prize consists of three disciplines, namely, Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences and is presented annually by the Shaw Prize Foundation since 2004. Among over 100 Shaw Laureates, many of them have been awarded other world-renowned international awards, including 16 Nobel Prize awardees, 10 Lasker Awards winners, 7 Fields Medalists and 4 Abel Prize recipients.

Shaw Laureates

All Astronomy Life Science and Medicine Mathematical Sciences

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2016

is awarded in equal shares to

RONALD W P DREVER

KIP S THORNE

RAINER WEISS

for conceiving and designing the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), whose recent direct detection of gravitational waves opens a new window in astronomy, with the first remarkable discovery being the merger of a pair of stellar mass black holes.

31 May 2016

Laureate Video

The Shaw Prize Profile