TWAS has long recognized that awards serve as a powerful incentive for scientists to pursue their best work, while also bringing them global recognition. Honours presented by TWAS and its partners are among the most prestigious for research in the developing world. These include the TWAS Apex Award, one of the highest distinctions for scientists from the developing world; the TWAS Medals, whose recipients are invited to lecture on a key aspect of their work and receive a medal as a token of appreciation; the TWAS Awards, which honour established scientists in the South; and the TWAS Named Awards, which recognize early-career scientists already making impressive contributions to their fields.
At the 17th TWAS General Conference, recipients from 2023 and 2024 have been honoured, and the names of the 2025 recipients will be unveiled.
TWAS-Apex Award in Quantum Science and Technology
Luiz DAVIDOVICH - Brazil
Luiz Davidovich is the recipient of the 2025 TWAS Apex Award in Quantum Science and Technology. He is recognized for his contributions to theoretical advances and groundbreaking experiments in quantum optics and quantum information, and for his worldwide leadership in the area of quantum science.
2025 TWAS Medals
- Akiça (Akissa) Bahri of Tunisia
- Luiz Davidovich of Brazil
- Yin Li of China
- Shirley Malcom of the USA
- Anton Zeilinger of Austria
2024 TWAS Awards
- Sunday Ekesi of Kenya, 2024 TWAS Award in Agricultural Sciences
- Fang-Jie Zhao of China, 2024 TWAS Award in Agricultural Sciences
- Yi-Fang Tsay of Taiwan, China, 2024 TWAS Award in Biology
- Raghavan Varadarajan of India, 2024 TWAS Award in Biology
- Ilkay Erdogan-Orhan of Türkiye, 2024 TWAS Award in Chemistry
- Suojiang Suojiang of China, 2024 TWAS Award in Chemistry
- Xing Xu of China, 2024 TWAS Award in Earth, Astronomy and Space Sciences
- Mohd Sapuan Salit of Malaysia, 2024 TWAS Award in Engineering Sciences
- Jiangong You of China, 2024 TWAS Award in Mathematics
- Fu-Chan Wei of Taiwan, China, 2024 TWAS Award in Medical Sciences
- Andrew Forbes of South Africa, 2024 TWAS Award in Physics
- Jueinai Kwo of Taiwan, China, 2024 TWAS Award in Physics
- Maria Cecília de Souza Minayo of Brazil, 2024 TWAS Award in Social Sciences
2024 Siwei Cheng Award
2023 TWAS named Awards
- Neena Gupta of India, 2023 TWAS-CAS Young Scientists Award for Frontier Science in Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Sanata Bamba Pakotogo of Burkina Faso, 2023 TWAS-Abdool Karim Award in Biological Sciences
- Imalka Munaweera of Sri Lanka, 2023 TWAS-Atta-ur-Rahman Award
- Nyovani Janet Madise of Malawi, 2023 TWAS-Fayzah M. Al-Kharafi Award in Social Sciences
2024 TWAS named Awards
- Qiaomei Fu, China, 2024 TWAS-CAS Young Scientists Award for Frontier Science in Life Sciences
- Yêyinou Laura Estelle Loko of Benin, 2024 TWAS-Abdool Karim Award in Biological Sciences
- Bipeen Dahal of Nepal, 2024 TWAS-Atta-ur-Rahman Award in Chemistry
- Ihsen Yengui of Tunisia, 2024 TWAS-Mohammad A. Hamdan Award
- Samia Subrina of Bangladesh, 2024 TWAS-Fayzah M. Al Kharafi Award in Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Engineering Sciences
- Tista Prasai Joshi of Nepal, 2024 TWAS-Samira Omar Innovation for Sustainability Award
2025 TWAS Medals
2024 TWAS Award in Agricultural Sciences
Sunday EKESI - Kenya
Sunday Ekesi is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Agricultural Sciences. He is recognized for his impactful contributions to fruit fly management to facilitate growth in the horticulture industry in Africa.
2024 TWAS Award in Agricultural Sciences
Fang-Jie ZHAO - China
Fang-Jie Zhao is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Agricultural Sciences. He is recognized for his discovery of the mechanisms controlling the accumulation of essential and toxic elements in crops, and the development of technical solutions to enhance food safety and improve nutrition.
2024 TWAS Award in Biology
Yi-Fang TSAY - Taiwan, China
Yi-Fang Tsay is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Biology. She is recognized for her breakthrough research on the transport, signalling and utilization efficiency of nitrate, which changed plant biology.
2024 TWAS Award in Biology
Raghavan VARADARAJAN - India
Raghavan Varadarajan is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Biology. He is recognized for his contributions to understanding the relationship between protein sequence, structure, and stability, and its application to design immunogens that elicit protective antibodies against HIV-1, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2.
2024 TWAS Award in Chemistry
Ilkay ERDOGAN ORHAN - Türkiye
Ilkay Erdogan-Orhan is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Chemistry. She is recognized for her fundamental contribution to natural product chemistry and the bioactivity of natural medicines.
2024 TWAS Award in Chemistry
Suojiang ZHANG - China
Suojiang Zhangis the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Chemistry. He is recognized for his essential and outstanding contributions to fundamental scientific research and green technology development in the field of ionic liquids and chemical engineering.
2024 TWAS Award in Earth, Astronomy and Space Sciences
Xing XU - China
Xing Xu is the recipient of the Name of the award. He is recognized for his fundamental contribution to the understanding of the evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds.
2024 TWAS Award in Engineering Sciences
Mohd Sapuan SALIT - Malaysia
Mohd Sapuan Salit is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Engineering Sciences. He is recognized for his contribution to the properties, conceptual design and materials selection of tropical natural-fibre composites, based on in-depth experimental and design-based investigations.
2024 TWAS Award in Mathematics
Jiangong YOU - China
Jiangong You is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Mathematics. He is recognized for his essential contributions to the development of the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) theory and applications in differential equations, dynamics systems, and the spectral theory of quasi-periodic Schrödinger operators.
2024 TWAS Award in Medical Sciences
Fu-Chan WEI - Taiwan, China
Fu-Chan Wei is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Medical Sciences. He is recognized for his essential contribution to saving lives and restoring human dignity, bringing about a paradigm shift in the surgical treatment of cancer, trauma and congenital anomalies through innovations and excellence.
2024 TWAS Award in Physics
Andrew FORBES - South Africa
Andrew Forbes is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Physics. He is recognized for his seminal contributions in creating new forms of classical and quantum states of structured light, thereby advancing photonic-based applications and fundamental sciences.
2024 TWAS Award in Physics
Jueinai KWO - Taiwan, China
Jueinai Kwo is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Physics. She is recognized for her outstanding work in condensed matter research, with the invention of novel thin films for magnetic superlattices, superconductivity, nano-electronics and spintronics.
2024 TWAS Award in Social Sciences
Maria Cecilia DE SOUZA MINAYO - Brazil
Maria Cecília de Souza Minayois is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS Award in Social Sciences. She is recognized for her leadership in formulating and implementing Brazil's National Policy for the Reduction of Accidents and Violence, and for advancing qualitative health research in the country.
2024 TWAS-Siwei Cheng Award In Economic Sciences
Yaohui ZHAO - China
Yaohui Zhao is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS-Siwei Cheng Award in Economic Sciences. She is recognized for her pioneering studies on the Chinese labour market and the economics of healthy ageing.
2023 TWAS-CAS Young Scientists Award for Frontier Science in Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Neena Gupta - India
Neena Gupta is the recipient of the 2023 TWAS-CAS Young Scientists Award for Frontier Science in Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). She is recognized for outstanding discoveries on fundamental questions in affine algebraic geometry, including the longstanding Zariski Cancellation Problem.
2023 TWAS-Abdool Karim Award in Biological Sciences
Sanata Bamba Pakotogo - Burkina Faso
Sanata Bamba Pakotogo is the recipient of the 2023 TWAS-Abdool Karim Award in Biological Sciences. She is recognized for her contribution to the diagnosis and management of post-tuberculosis chronic pulmonary aspergillosis in a tuberculosis endemic area in Burkina Faso.
2023 TWAS-Atta-ur-Rahman Award in Chemistry
Imalka MUNAWEERA - Sri Lanka
Imalka Munaweera is the recipient of the 2023 TWAS-Atta-ur-Rahman Award. She is recognized for her contributions to the development of engineered inorganic nanostructures and nanofiber composites that may have multidisciplinary applications.
2023 TWAS-Fayzah M. Al-Kharafi Award in Social Sciences
Nyovani Janet Madise
Nyovani Janet Madise is the recipient of the 2023 TWAS-Atta-ur-Rahman Award. She is recognized for her pioneering research in Kenya on the lack of access to health care by the poor living in slums, leading to the construction of maternity facilities.
2024 TWAS-CAS Young Scientists Award for Frontier Science in Life Sciences
Fu QIAOMEI - China
Qiaomei Fu is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS-CAS Young Scientists Award for Frontier Science in Life Sciences. She is recognized for her innovations in key ancient genomic technologies and contributions in human evolution across Eurasia, illuminating how discovered ancestry has shaped the genetic makeup and adaptive traits of modern humans.
2024 TWAS-Abdool Karim Award in Biological Sciences
Yêyinou Laura Estelle LOKO - Benin
Yêyinou Laura Estelle Loko is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS-Abdool Karim Award in Biological Sciences. She is recognized for her contributions to the development of environmentally friendly biological control methods against insect pests and her achievements in enhancing the knowledge and conservation of plant genetic resources in the Republic of Benin.
2024 TWAS-Atta-ur-Rahman Award in Chemistry
Bipeen Dahal - Nepal
Bipeen Dahal is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS-Atta-ur-Rahman Award in Chemistry. He is recognized for his contributions to the synthesis of carbon nanomaterials, including carbon quantum dots and their composites, for applications in energy conversion and storage, as well as addressing environmental issues
2024 TWAS-Mohammad A. Hamdan Award
Ihsen YENGUI - Tunisia
Ihsen Yengui is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS-Mohammad A. Hamdan Award. He is recognized for his significant contributions to mathematical research in Tunisia and his dedicated commitment to training the new generation of young mathematicians from Tunisia and sub-Saharan Africa.
2024 TWAS-Fayzah M. Al Kharafi Award
in Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Engineering Sciences
Samia SUBRINA - Bangladesh
Samia Subrina is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS-Fayzah M. Al Kharafi Award in Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Engineering Sciences. She is recognized for her groundbreaking research in nanoscale materials and devices, providing innovative solutions for electronic industry, heat management, and energy harvesting.
2024 TWAS-Samira Omar Innovation for Sustainability Award
Tista PRASAI JOSHI - Nepal
Tista Prasai Joshi is the recipient of the 2024 TWAS-Samira Omar Innovation for Sustainability Award. She is recognized for her pioneering work in improving drinking water quality, particularly in addressing arsenic contamination of groundwater in Nepal.