NATO Science Partnership Prize awarded to three outstanding projects
Scientists from France, Israel, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States received the prestigious 2018 Science for Peace and Security Programme (SPS) Prize for excellent collaboration in NATO multi-year science projects in the fields of cyber defence, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defence, and advanced technologies.
At a ceremony held at NATO Headquarters on 29 November 2018, NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller pointed out that "this shows how NATO can bring people together to work on security and defence, of course, but also to work on scientific projects that will be for the larger benefit of the global community". The Prize consists of a crystal award and an official citation.
SPS Prize in Cyber Defence
Prof. Otokar Grošek, Prof. Viktor Fisher and Dr Rainer Steinwandt receive the SPS Partnership Prize for their project in the field of cyber defence.
The multi-year project "Secure Implementation of Post-Quantum Cryptography" supported collaboration on post-quantum cryptography research with particular focus on the security of cyber infrastructures and of communication channels. The project has been important in preparing young scientists in post-quantum research, which has been gaining momentum in the scientific community.
The project is led by Prof. Otokar Grošek from the Institute of Computer and Mathematics of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Dr Eran Tromer from the School of Computer Science of the Tel Aviv University, Prof. Viktor Fisher from the Jean Monnet University in France and Dr Rainer Steinwandt from the Florida Atlantic University in the United States.
SPS Prize in CBRN Defence
Prof. Turkan Haliloglu and Prof. Nir Ben-Tal receive the SPS Partnership Prize for their project in the field of CBRN defence.
The project "The Anthrax MntABC Transporter: Structure, Functional Dynamics and Drug Discovery" aims at neutralising anthrax and developing chemical compounds that could inhibit the transport chain of Bacillus anthracis inside the human body and therefore decrease its virulence.
In line with NATO's policy to counter terrorism and other threats to security, this SPS flagship project was led by co-directors Prof. Turkan Haliloglu, Director of the Polymer Research Center of the Bogazici University in Turkey, Prof. Nir Ben-Tal, Head of Laboratory of Computational Structural Biology of the Tel Aviv University and Associate Prof. Oded Lewinson, Head of Laboratory of Transport Proteins of the Israel Institute of Technology.
SPS Prize in Advanced Technologies
Prof. Kim Jung-Mu and Prof. Kostyantin Lukin receive the SPS Partnership Prize for their project in the field of advanced technologies.
The project "Compact Sensor System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)" developed a very compact, low-weight and low-power consumption sensor to be mounted on UAVs that can detect, identify and localise electromagnetic signals (radar, radio) in the battlefield, thus improving the monitoring of potential targets.
It is led by Dr Ignacio Llamas Garro, Senior Researcher at the Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya in Spain, Prof. Kim Jung-Mu, Professor at the Chonbuk National University in South Korea and Prof. Kostyantin Lukin from the Usikov Institute for Radiophisics and Electronics of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine.
The technical outputs of the project have been presented in a comprehensive book, several journal papers and in international conferences such as the URSI Asia-Pacific Radio Science Conference held in Seoul, South Korea in August 2016.
Awarding the SPS Prize
The SPS Prize is awarded in recognition of excellence in scientific collaboration between scientists of NATO partner countries and NATO Allies, supported under the NATO SPS Programme. The first NATO Partnership Prize was presented by the NATO Secretary General in October 2002 at a ceremony at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Ever since, several Prizes have been awarded with the last one offered in 2007.
Eligible for consideration for the Prize are significant collaborative contributions to science, research and technology development in the security and defence field relevant to NATO and its partner nations.
The Prize recipients are co-directors from NATO Allies and partner countries who initiated, managed and successfully completed the SPS-awarded partnership activity.