WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, PLOS BIOLOGY

Kavli Foundation announced this year’s winners today (May 31), which include seven scientists in astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience.

In nanoscience, Mildred S. Dresselhaus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was “recognized for her pioneering contributions to the study of phonons, electron-phonon interactions, and thermal transport in nanostructures,” According to the Foundation’s announcement. Dresselhaus has led research investigating bismuth nanowires and carbon nanotubes.

The 2012 laureates in neuroscience, "recognized for elucidating basic neuronal mechanisms underlying perception and decision," are Cornelia Isabella Bargmann of Rockefeller University, who investigates sensory responses in C. elegans; Winfried Denk of Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Germany, who images brain circuits; and Ann M. Graybiel at MIT, whose research elucidates brain states that contribute to the dysregulation of behavior patterns.

The astrophysics prize was awarded for “discovering and characterizing the Kuiper Belt and its largest members, work that led to...

Each field receives $1 million to split among the winners. King Harald of Norway will bestow the prizes in an award ceremony in Oslo on September 4, 2012.

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