TEHRAN – Five scientists were announced winners of the Mustafa Prize 2021, a prestigious biennial award launched in 2013 aiming to promote science and technology in the Islamic world.

It is awarded in four categories of information and communication science and technology, life and medical science and technology, nanoscience and nanotechnology, and all areas of science and technology.

The winners will be granted cash prizes amounting to $1 million on October 21, ISNA reported.

During this period, a joint award will be given to two scientists from the Islamic world residing in a non-Muslim country and a joint award will be given to three scientists residing in Islamic countries.

In the public section, the Mustafa Prize 2021 will be shared between Professor Kamran Vafa, an Iranian Muslim, and Professor Zahed Hassan, a Bangladeshi scientist.

The winners will be granted cash prizes amounting to $1 million.Three other scientists living in Islamic countries will also share the prize, namely, Professor Mohammad Saegh, Professor Iqbal Chaudhry, and Yahya Tilati from Morocco.

In all specialized fields of the Mustafa Prize, the nominees should be Muslim and have a high profile in scientific research. However, there would be no other limitations regarding gender and age.

In 2015, the first edition of the prize was held in Tehran, and professors Jackie Y. Ying and Omar M. Yaghi were the two winners of the 2015 Mustafa Prize.

The Mustafa Foundation seeks to encourage education and research and is set to play the pioneering role in developing regional relations between science and technology institutions working in member states of the Organization of Islamic Countries.

The event is held during the Islamic Unity week in Iran, which is annually celebrated between two dates of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by Sunnis and Shia.

The prize is granted to the works which are deemed to have improved human life and made tangible and cutting-edge innovations on the boundaries of science or have presented new scientific methodology.

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