World news story

Jo Johnson announces 2018 Newton Prize countries

Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation has announced the four countries eligible for the Newton Prize 2018: Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

Newton Prize

Jo Johnson, Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, has announced the four countries that will be eligible for the Newton Prize in 2018: Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

The announcement was made at the 2017 Newton Prize reception in London on 4 December, where more than 100 UK and international representatives, including Newton Fund partner country Ambassadors to the UK, delivery partners and the lead researchers from all shortlisted Newton Prize projects, gathered to celebrate the first ever Newton Prize.

The Minister was joined by Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society and Chair of the Newton Prize Committee and Jim Al-Khalili OBE, scientist and broadcaster.

In his speech, Jo Johnson said:

Latin America has been a major partner in the Newton fund from its outset in 2014. The region’s skilled scientists and excellent institutions complement a phenomenal natural laboratory of environments to enable us to collaborate on a great range of productive research.

The event celebrated the pioneering ideas and cutting edge research and innovations that come from international partnerships. International collaboration plays a vital role in helping us to solve global challenges in diverse areas: from energy to sustainable food production; from disease prevention to transformational technology; and from city planning to disaster management. These collaborations change lives, addressing critical development challenges with innovative solutions, as well as developing shared capacity and talent.

Representatives from the winning and shortlisted 2017 Newton Prize projects attended to celebrate their successes through the Newton Fund.

Take a look at the Newton Prize 2017 booklet for more details on the projects.

Published 6 December 2017