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20-10 Prizes and Awards


spaceholder redNobel Prizes

A number of Nobel Prizes have been awarded for research results in NMR or neigh­bor­ing disciplines. Among the recipients were:


spaceholder darkblueOtto Stern: Nobel Prize in Physics 1943
spaceholder darkblueIsidor I. Rabi: Nobel Prize in Physics 1944
spaceholder darkblueFelix Bloch and Edward M. Purcell: Nobel Prize in Physics 1952
spaceholder darkblueNicolaas Bloembergen: Nobel Prize in Physics 1981
spaceholder darkblueRichard R. Ernst: Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1991
spaceholder darkblueKurt Wüthrich: Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2002


Paul C. Lauterbur (Figure 20-62) received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2003 for the invention of magnetic resonance imaging.

Peter Mans­field (Figure 20-63) shared this Nobel Prize for his further development of MRI.


Figure 20-62:
Paul C. Lauterbur receives the Nobel Prize from the King of Sweden.

The Nobel Foundation's announcement read:

"Paul Lauterbur discovered the pos­si­bi­li­ty to create a two-di­men­sio­nal picture by introducing gra­dients in the magnetic field. By ana­ly­sis of the characteristics of the emitted radio waves, he could de­ter­mine their origin. This made it possible to build up two-di­men­sio­nal pictures of structures that could not be visualized with other me­thods.”


Figure 20-63:
Peter Mansfield receives the Nobel Prize from the King of Sweden.

The announcement for Peter Mansfield read:

"Peter Mansfield further de­ve­lo­ped the utilization of gradients in the mag­ne­tic field. He showed how the signals could be mathematically ana­ly­sed, which made it possible to develop a useful imaging technique. He also showed how extremely fast imaging could be achievable. This became technically possible within medicine a decade later."


spaceholder redThis was the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded in the field.

Paul C. Lauterbur commented on this in a lecture given in Lund, Sweden, some days after the Prize Ceremony in Stockholm:

"It has been noted that the Nobel Prize for the development of MRI was awar­ded to a chemist and a physicist. That is not accidental. The field de­ve­lo­ped from a discipline that was first the province of physicists, two of whom share a Nobel Prize for it, and then became most prominent in its ap­pli­ca­tions to chemistry, so that chemists received the next two Nobel Prizes, for novel techniques and applications. Although the needs of medical diagnosis stimulated the development of MRI, it was firmly grounded in the know­led­ge and instruments of physicists and chemists, as well as of those of ma­the­ma­ti­cians and engineers, all far from the knowledge and concerns of phy­si­ci­ans, who became its greatest beneficiaries."


spaceholder redEuropean Magnetic Resonance Award


Since 1986, the European Magnetic Resonance Forum (EMRF) and The Round Table Foundation (TRTF) confered the European Magnetic Resonance Award upon those scientists without whom magnetic resonance imaging as a patient-friendly non-invasive diagnostic technology in medicine would not exist. Since 1991 two Awards are granted, one for advances in medical applications and one for re­search in basic sciences; in a number of years, the Awards were combined. Since 1994, the Award is biennial. After 2012, the Award is only given at special occasions (see also: Pro Academia Prize).


Figure 20-64:
The Award is a crystal owl, representing Athena, the goddess of crafts and skilled peacetime pur­suits. She personifies wisdom and right­eous­ness. Thus, the Award symbolizes scientific per­se­ve­ran­ce and knowledge turned into cutting edge results with a direct impact on patient care.


Recipients of the European Magnetic Resonance Award

spaceholder darkbluePaul C. Lauterbur, Urbana-Champaign (1986)
spaceholder darkblueJohn Mallard, Aberdeen (1987)
spaceholder darkbluePeter Mansfield, Nottingham (1988)
spaceholder darkblueGraeme M. Bydder, London (1989)
spaceholder darkblueAxel Haase, Würzburg, and Jens Frahm, Göttingen (shared award, 1990)
spaceholder darkblueWerner Kaiser, Bonn, and Ian Young, London (1991)
spaceholder darkblueRoberto Passariello, Rome, and Jürgen Hennig, Freiburg (1992)
spaceholder darkblueDonald Longmore, London, and Raimo Sepponen, Helsinki (1993)
spaceholder darkblueAnders Hemmingsson, Uppsala, and Denis Le Bihan, Paris (1994)
spaceholder darkblueThomas Vogl, Berlin, and Hanns-Joachim Weinmann, Berlin (1996)
spaceholder darkblueGustav K. von Schulthess, Zurich, and Patrick J. Cozzone, Marseille (1998)
spaceholder darkblueRobert N. Muller, Mons (Special Award 1998)
spaceholder darkbluePeter A. Rinck, Sophia Antipolis (Special Award 1998)
spaceholder darkblueGuy Marchal, Leuven, and Chrit T. Moonen, Bordeaux (2000)
spaceholder darkblueGerhard Laub, Erlangen, and Peter Luijten, Utrecht (2002)
spaceholder darkblueKlaas P. Pruessmann, Zurich, and Silvio Aime, Turin (2004)
spaceholder darkblueChristiane Kuhl, Bonn, and Jacques Bittoun, Paris, France (2006)
spaceholder darkblueKlaes Golman, Malmö, and Luis Martí-Bonmatí, Valencia (2008)
spaceholder darkblueJohn Griffiths, Cambridge, and Stefan Neubauer, Oxford (2010)
spaceholder darkblueErik Odeblad, Umeå (2012)


spaceholder redIn addition, there are numerous research prizes given by societies in the field of magnetic resonance imaging.