How the Frontiers Planet Prize works
The Frontiers Planet Prize recognises transformational research that shows the greatest potential to address the world’s most urgent environmental challenges. With that in mind, the process is exceptionally rigorous and thorough, and engages with all stakeholders within the academic community.
Here’s how it works.
Researchers submit their articles to their institutions
Scientists enter through their research institution or university, who have agreed to act as a National Nominating Body (NNB). Scientists put forward their submission to their institution by filling out a standard application form, attaching their article.
Selecting the national nominees
The NNB evaluates all the submissions made by scientists at their institutions. It then sends its top three nominations to the country’s national academy of science, which acts as the National Representative Body (NRB).
In turn, the NRB has the challenging task of selecting the top three nominations from their NNB network to represent the country to the international Jury of 100, chaired by Professor Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research, and pioneer of the planetary boundary framework.
A national champion for each country
The Jury of 100, evaluates the national nominees based on the importance and relevance of each application, and through an independent voting process, select a national champion for each participating country.
Three international champions win 1 million USD each
From the pool of national champions, the Jury of 100 holds a second round of voting to select three international champions. Each of them wins 1 million USD to accelerate and scale up the impact of their breakthrough research.
They will also be supported in embedding their award-winning work – and sharing their knowledge – in roundtable discussions at some of the world’s most relevant conferences and regional events.
The jury’s procedure
The jury will decide the champions of the competition independently, and under the strictest standards of impartiality.
Each submission will be assessed based on the:
Applicability of the research results
Scalability of the application
Number of planetary boundaries involved
Contribution to general understanding of Planetary boundaries
Scientific novelty
Research quality
Note: the Frontiers Planet Prize does not guarantee a national champion for each participating country. This decision, along with the selection process, is managed independently by the Jury of 100.
Frontiers Planet Prize application criteria
Research must be based on one research article, published in established, peer-reviewed scientific journals, with robust peer review and transparent publication procedures.
The article’s acceptance date must fall within the two years before the competition launch date.
The prize welcomes breakthrough research across all disciplines, on condition it is focused on planetary boundaries and presents original research findings or insightful reviews and syntheses that help to reduce the destabilization of the Earth system.
The research outlines actionable solutions or pathways that can be implemented in policies, adapted commercially, or otherwise contribute to keep global development within planetary boundaries.
The research advances the scientific understanding and quantification of planetary boundaries. It explores how planetary boundaries are affected or impact life support systems / the Earth system or investigates the implications of adopting planetary boundaries thinking across disciplines, sectors and activities/applications.
The research must connect to several planetary boundaries at the Earth system scale. Research that explores interactions / relations between multiple planetary boundaries will be prioritized.
