Kavli Foundation (United States)

The Kavli Foundation, based in Oxnard, California, is dedicated to the goals of advancing science for the benefit of humanity and promoting increased public understanding and support for scientists and their work.

The Foundation's mission is implemented through an international program of research institutes, professorships, and symposia in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience, and theoretical physics as well as prizes in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience.

The Kavli Foundation was established in December 2000 by its founder and benefactor, Fred Kavli, a prominent California business leader and noted philanthropist whose foundation is currently actively involved in establishing major research institutes at leading universities throughout the United States and in Europe.

To date, The Kavli Foundation has made grants to establish Kavli Institutes on the campuses of the University of California Santa Barbara, Stanford University, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Yale University, Cornell University, the University of California San Diego, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Peking University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harvard University, University of Cambridge and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

In addition to the Kavli Institutes, six Kavli professorships have been established: two at University of California Santa Barbara, one at University of California Los Angeles, one at University of California Irvine, one at Columbia University, and one at California Institute of Technology.

A Norwegian-born physicist, Fred Kavli is the founder, former chairman and chief executive officer of Kavlico Corporation in Moorpark, California. At the time the company was sold in 2000, Kavlico was one of the world's largest suppliers of sensors for aeronautics, automotive and industrial applications.

The Kavli Prize

The Kavli Prizes recognize scientists for their seminal advances in three research areas: astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience. Consisting of a scroll, medal and cash award of one million dollars, a prize in each of these areas is awarded every two years beginning in 2008. The Kavli Prizes are presented in cooperation with the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The prizes are awarded at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway – Kavli's native country – with the President of the Norwegian Academy presiding.

Independent of The Kavli Foundation, Kavli Prize recipients are chosen by three prize committees comprised of distinguished international scientists recommended by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the Max Planck Society, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and The Royal Society. After making their selection for Award recipients, the recommendatons of these prize committees are confirmed by the Norwegian Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Kavli Prize for Astrophysics

The Kavli Prize in Astrophysics is awarded for outstanding achievement in advancing our knowledge and understanding of the origin, evolution and properties of the universe, and includes the fields of cosmology, astrophysics, astronomy, planetary science, solar physics, space science, astrobiology, astronomical and astrophysical instrumentation, and particle astrophysics.

The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience

The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience is awarded for outstanding achievement in the science and application of the unique physical, chemical and biological properties of atomic, molecular, macromolecular and cellular structures and systems manifested in the nanometer scale. This includes molecular self-assembly, nanomaterials, nanoscale instrumentation, nanobiotechnology, macromolecular synthesis, molecular mechanics and related topics. The Kavli Prize for Neuroscience - Medal

The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience

The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience is awarded for outstanding achievement in advancing our knowledge and understanding of the brain and nervous system, including molecular neuroscience, cellular neuroscience, systems neuroscience, neurogenetics, developmental neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience and related facets of the brain and nervous system.

The Kavli Institutes

To advance fundamental research in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience, and theoretical physics, The Kavli Foundation has to date established 15 research institutes at leading academic and research institutions worldwide.

• The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara broadly contributes to the progress of theoretical physics, especially in areas overlapping traditional subfields such as cosmology, biophysics and condensed matter physics.

• The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University focuses on recent developments in astrophysics, high-energy physics and cosmology and fosters collaborations between faculty from Stanford’s Physics and Applied Physics departments, and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, which is operated by Stanford for the U.S. Department of Energy.

• The Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago seeks to elucidate the nature of dark energy and dark matter; test the inflationary cosmology hypothesis; resolve the mystery of the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays; understand the role of neutrinos in cosmology; and connect cosmology with string theory.

• The Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducts interdisciplinary research in physics, astrophysics and space science, and is engaged in the development of instrumentation for space research.

• The Kavli Nanoscience Institute at Caltech emphasizes nanobiotechnology, nanophotonics, and large-scale integration of nanosystems, include research that interfaces living cells with large numbers of nanodevices to read the molecular signatures of gene and protein expression, in real time, and at the resolution of a single cell.

• The Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science serves as a catalyst for thought and imagination – not by funding specific research or experiments, but by bringing together a diverse range of scientists to share their ideas and visions for nanoscale science and technology.

• The Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands focuses on interdisciplinary research, tapping the fields of physics, chemistry and biology.

• The Kavli Institute for Neuroscience at Yale University focuses on the cerebral cortex, regarded as the crowning achievement of brain evolution and the substrate of human cognitive abilities.

• The Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia University probes the complex network of brain cells and their connections.

• The Kavli Institute for Brain & Mind at the University of California, San Diego advances understanding of the origins, evolution and mechanisms of human cognition, from the brain’s physical and biochemical machinery to the experiences and behaviors called the mind.

• The Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard University emphasizes an integrative multidisciplinary approach to develop a deeper understanding of the functioning of life and biology at the nanoscale level.

• The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University conducts fundamental research on the origin and evolution of astrophysical structures, from planetary systems to the universe as a whole.

• The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China at the Chinese Academy of Sciences coordinates basic research on theoretical physics in China and facilitates interaction between theory and experiment, as well as promotes research in interdisciplinary areas within physics and other branches of science.

• The Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge is dedicated to advancing our understanding of the cosmos, with areas of exploration ranging from the physics of the early universe to the evolution of galaxies.

• The Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology is dedicated to advancing our understanding of neural circuits and systems in the brain, introducing new experimental and analytical methods in pursuit of research targeted at answering fundamental questions in the field, such as establishing how memory is encoded, stored and retrieved, and how the brain’s navigational system works.

References

The Kavli Foundation Website

Additional Information Sources
Time Magazine, "The Next Nobel?" August 2, 2007
The Associated Press, "Kavli Strives to Leave Mark on Science,"November 13, 2006
The New York Times, "A Philanthropist of Science Seeks to Be Its Next Nobel," April 19, 2005
Scientific American, Scientific American 50: Policy Leader of the Year, November 21, 2005