The proposed UNESCO-Russia Mendeleev International Prize in the Basic Sciences, financially supported by the Russian Federation, aims to bolster basic sciences education, research, international cooperation, and, consequently, the use and applications of these disciplines, which are fundamental for providing solutions to many of the development challenges that Member States face as they implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other related international agenda, such as the Paris Agreement on climate Change and the Sendaï Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction. Such a Prize will give recognition to achievements that are conducive to socio-economic transformation and development on a regional or global scale, by underpinning:
- excellence in research in the basic sciences fields;
- basic sciences education and popularization;
- international or regional cooperation in the basic sciences.
The Prize shall be awarded annually to two individual award-winners for their breakthrough discoveries, outstanding innovations and avid promotion of the basic sciences, driving or with potential to drive in the future, socio-economic transformation and development of human societies. The Prize consists of a monetary reward of US $250,000 for each of the two winners, representing a total monetary prize value of $500,000. A gold medal and a diploma will be given to each of the recipients.