Each year, the French Académie des sciences awards approximately 80 Prizes. Thanks to the generosity and numbers of those who contribute financially, the fields in which prizes may be given are very wide-spread and include both basic and applied research. The most prestigious of these annual awards is the "Grande Médaille".
The Prizes are handed over officially to the laureates in a Ceremony under the Dome of the Institut de France.
The "Grande Médaille"
The "Grande Médaille" 2013 is awarded to Joan A. STEITZ.
The "Grande Médaille" 2012 is awarded to Adi SHAMIR.
The main area of research of Adi Shamir is cryptography.
The "Grande Médaille" was created in 1977 and is a group award involving 143 Foundations of the Academy of Sciences and the Institut de France Cf. list of Foundations.
Each year, the "Grande Médaille" is awarded for work in a field that comes alternately under the heading of one the two Divisions of the Academy; the Prize may go to a French national or to a foreign scientist who has contributed in some remarkable and decisive way to progress in his/her field, either through personal research accomplished by the laureate or through the international echo and stimulating influence that work has had, sometimes leading to new schools of research. The work involves some important area of basic research and throws new light and enables better understanding in the field.
International Prizes of the Académie des sciences
Each year, the French Académie distributes about 80 prizes.