Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology

The Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology is an award given by the Foresight Institute for significant advances in nanotechnology. Two prizes are awarded annually, in the categories of experimental and theoretical work. There is also a separate challenge award for making a nanoscale robotic arm and 8-bit adder.

Overview The Feynman Prize consists of annual prizes in experimental and theory categories, as well as a one-time challenge award. They are awarded by the Foresight Institute, a nanotechnology advocacy organization. The prizes are named in honor of physicist Richard Feynman, whose 1959 talk There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom is considered by nanotechnology advocates to have inspired and informed the start of the field of nanotechnology.

The annual Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology is awarded for pioneering work in nanotechnology, towards the goal of constructing atomically precise products through molecular machine systems. Input on prize candidates comes from both Foresight Institute personnel and outside academic and commercial organizations. The awardees are selected mainly by an annually changing body of former winners and other academics. The prize is considered prestigious, and authors of one study considered it to be reasonably representative of notable research in the parts of nanotechnology under its scope.

The separate Feynman Grand Prize is a $250,000 challenge award to the first persons to create both a nanoscale robotic arm capable of precise positional control, and a nanoscale 8-bit adder, conforming to given specifications. It is intended to stimulate the field of molecular nanotechnology.

History The Feynman Prize was instituted in the context of Foresight Institute co-founder K. Eric Drexler's advocacy of funding for molecular manufacturing. The prize was first given in 1993. Before 1997, one prize was given biennially. From 1997 on, two prizes were given each year in theory and experimental categories. By awarding these prizes early in the history of the field, the prize increased awareness of nanotechnology and influenced its direction.

The Grand Prize was announced in 1995 at the Fourth Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology and was sponsored by James Von Ehr and Marc Arnold. In 2004, X-Prize Foundation founder Peter Diamandis was selected to chair the Feynman Grand Prize committee.

Recipients Single prize YearLaureate Institution Scope of work1993Charles MusgraveCalifornia Institute of TechnologyMolecular modelling of atomically precise manufacturing1995Nadrian C. SeemanNew York UniversityDNA nanotechnology

Experimental category YearLaureate Institution Scope of work1997James K. GimzewskiIBM Zurich Research LaboratoryScanning probe microscopy for atomically precise manufacturingReto SchlittlerChristian JoachimCEMES/French National Centre for Scientific Research1998M. Reza GhadiriScripps Research InstituteMolecular self-assembly1999Phaedon AvourisIBM Watson Research CenterMolecular scale electronics using carbon nanotubes2000R. Stanley WilliamsHP LabsSwitches for molecular scale electronicsPhilip KuekesJames R. HeathUniversity of California, Los Angeles2001Charles M. LieberHarvard UniversitySynthesis and characterization of carbon nanotubes2002Chad MirkinNorthwestern UniversitySpherical nucleic acid nanoparticles2003Carlo MontemagnoUniversity of California, Los AngelesIntegration of biological molecular motors with silicon devices2004Homme HellingaDuke UniversityAtomically precise manufacturing2005Christian SchafmeisterUniversity of PittsburghSynthesis of designed macromolecules2006Erik WinfreeCalifornia Institute of TechnologyDNA computing using algorithmic self-assemblyPaul W. K. Rothemund2007J. Fraser StoddartUniversity of California, Los AngelesSynthesis and assembly of molecular machines2008James TourRice UniversitySynthesis of nanocars and other molecular machines2009Yoshiaki SugimotoOsaka UniversityNon-contact atomic force microscopy for manipulation of single atomsMasayuki AbeOscar CustanceJapanese National Institute for Materials Science2010Masakazu AonoMANA Center, Japanese National Institute for Materials ScienceScanning probe microscopy for manipulation of atoms2011Leonhard GrillFritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck SocietyScanning probe microscopy for characterization and manipulation of molecules2012Gerhard MeyerIBM Zurich Research LaboratoryImaging and manipulation of molecular orbitals using scanning probe microscopyLeo GrossJascha Repp2013Alexander ZettlUniversity of California, BerkeleyNanoscale electromechanical systems2014Joseph W. LydingUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–ChampaignHydrogen depassivation lithography using scanning tunneling microscopes2015Michelle Y. SimmonsUniversity of New South WalesFabrication of single-atom transistors2016Franz J. GiessiblUniversity of RegensburgImaging and manipulation of individual atoms using scanning probe microscopy2017William ShihHarvard UniversityDNA nanotechnology2018Christopher LutzIBM Almaden Research CenterManipulating atoms and small molecules for data storage and computationAndreas J. HeinrichCenter for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science2019Lulu QianCalifornia Institute of TechnologyMolecular robotics, self-assembly of DNA structures, and biochemical circuits2020Hao YanArizona State University Use of DNA as designer molecular building blocks for programmable molecular self-assembly.2021Anne-Sophie DuwezUniversity of Liège Developed tools and technologies to interface synthetic functional molecules with AFM to study their operation and her other single-molecule research.2022Sergei V. KalininUniversity of Tennessee Applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence in nanotechnology, atomic fabrication, and materials discovery via scanning transmission electron microscopy, as well as mesoscopic studies of electrochemical, ferroelectric, and transport phenomena via scanning probe microscopy.2023James J. CollinsMassachusetts Institute of Technology For pioneering work on synthetic gene circuits that launched the field of synthetic biology and has enabled the development of programmable biomolecular tools for the life sciences, medicine and nanobiotechnology.2024Saw Wai HlaOhio UniversityFor outstanding contributions to molecular machine research and atomically precise manipulation techniques.2025Ben L. FeringaUniversity of GroningenFor pioneering the control of molecular motion.

Theory category YearLaureate Institution Scope of work1997Charles BauschlicherNASA Ames Research CenterComputational nanotechnologyStephen BarnardCreon LevitGlenn DeardorffAl GlobusJie HanRichard JaffeAlessandra RiccaMarzio RosiDeepak SrivastavaH. Thuemmel1998Ralph C. MerkleZyvexMolecular tools for atomically precise chemical reactionsStephen WalchELORET Corporation/NASA Ames Research Center1999William A. Goddard IIICalifornia Institute of TechnologyModeling of molecular machinesTahir CaginYue Qi2000Uzi LandmanGeorgia Institute of TechnologyComputational materials science for nanostructures2001Mark A. RatnerNorthwestern UniversityMolecular scale electronics2002Don BrennerNorth Carolina State UniversityMolecular machines for molecular manufacturing2003Marvin L. CohenUniversity of California, BerkeleyModeling of new materialsSteven G. Louie2004David BakerUniversity of WashingtonDevelopment of RosettaDesignBrian KuhlmanUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill2005Christian JoachimFrench National Centre for Scientific ResearchTheoretical tools and design principles for molecular machines2006Erik WinfreeCalifornia Institute of TechnologyDNA computingPaul W. K. Rothemund2007David A. LeighUniversity of EdinburghDesign and synthesis of molecular machines2008George C. SchatzNorthwestern UniversityModeling of dip-pen nanolithography, and of plasmon effects in metallic nanoparticles2009Robert A. Freitas Jr.Institute for Molecular ManufacturingMechanosynthesis and systems design of molecular machines2010Gustavo E. ScuseriaRice UniversityTools for modeling of carbon nanostructures2011Raymond AstumianUniversity of MaineMolecular machines powered by Brownian motion2012David SoloveichikUniversity of California, San FranciscoDNA computing using strand displacement cascades2013David BeratanDuke UniversityFunctional supramolecular assemblies2014Amanda BarnardAustralian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research OrganisationCarbon nanostructure structure-function relationships2015Markus J. BuehlerMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMechanical simulations of materials2016Bartosz GrzybowskiUlsan National Institute of Science and TechnologyModeling of the outcomes of organic reactions2017Giovanni ZocchiUniversity of California, Los AngelesStress–strain analysis of soft nanoparticles2018O. Anatole von LilienfeldUniversity of Basel, now University of TorontoMethods for fast quantum mechanical modelling2019Giulia GalliUniversity of ChicagoThe development of theoretical and computational methods to predict and design, from first principles, the properties of nanostructured materials.2020Massimiliano Di VentraUniversity of California, San Diego Quantum transport in nanoscale and atomic systems; prediction of nanoscale phenomena which were later verified experimentally, studied memory effects in materials and devices.2021Kendall N. HoukUCLA Quantum mechanical and molecular dynamics simulations which have elucidated structural and dynamical features of synthetic nanomachines.2022James R. ChelikowskyUniversity of Texas Pioneered the use of computational approaches to understand and predict the properties of materials at the nanoscale.2023Alexandre TkatchenkoUniversity of Luxembourg For pioneering the development of methods that seamlessly merge quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and machine learning to unravel the intricacies of complex molecules and materials.2024Klaus-Robert MüllerTechnische Universität BerlinFor groundbreaking work applying machine learning to scientific challenges across physics, chemistry, and neuroscience.2025Nicola MarzariCambridge UniversityFor developing the theoretical and computational infrastructure that underpins modern atomically precise materials discovery.

Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology

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