Kyoto Prize at Oxford 2018

On 8 and 9 May 2018 we welcomed the three 2017 Kyoto Prize Laureates – semiconductor engineer Dr Takashi Mimura, plant physiologist Dr Graham Farquhar, and musicologist Dr Richard Taruskin – who gave public talks, lead academic workshops and took part in a number of activities across the University of Oxford.

Laureates

Andrew Chi-Chih Yao
Andrew Chi-Chih Yao
Computer scientist
Robert G Roeder
Robert G Roeder
Biochemist and molecular biologist
Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour
Philosopher
Takashi Mimura

Takashi Mimura

Honorary Fellow, Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. Executive Visiting Researcher, Advanced ICT Research Institute, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
Semiconductor Engineer

Invention of the High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) and its development for the progress of information and communications technology

Dr Mimura invented the High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) with a new structure, in which two layered semiconductors are stacked. He revealed that HEMT has excellent high-frequency characteristics because of its high mobility nature of electrons. This invention has led to significant advancements both in information and communications technology and in physics studies of electrons confined in ultrathin conductive layers.

Kyoto Prize award category: Advanced Technology - Electronics

Graham Farquhar

Graham Farquhar

Distinguished Professor, The Australian National University
Plant Physiologist

Development of process-based models of photosynthesis and their contributions to the science of global environmental changes

Dr Farquhar has developed process-based models of photosynthesis, enabling the prediction of the environmental responses of carbon dioxide exchange between vegetation and the atmosphere, as well as models for the fractionation of the stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen during photosynthesis and transpiration. Doing so, he has made major contributions to the advancement of environmental and climate change sciences.

Kyoto Prize award category: Basic Sciences - Biological Sciences (Evolution, Behavior, Ecology, Environment)

Richard Taruskin

Richard Taruskin

Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
Musicologist

A musicologist and critic of prodigious erudition who has transformed contemporary perspectives on music through historical research and essays that defy conventional critical paradigms

Dr Taruskin has pioneered a new dimension in Western music culture through musicology research that transcends conventional historiographical methodologies, issuing sharp critical analysis backed by exhaustive knowledge of many diverse fields. His unrivaled perspective has significantly influenced both performance and study, elevating the importance and creative value of critical discourse to the music world.

Kyoto Prize award category: Arts and Philosophy - Music

Media

Lecture: Adventures across disciplines: studying biophysics, and observing the shaping of policies (English)
Lecture: Adventures across disciplines: studying biophysics, and observing the shaping of policies (English)

Watch Dr Graham Farquhar speaking to an audience at the Blavatnik School of Government as part of the Kyoto Prize at Oxford events.

Video page
Kyoto Prize Presentation Ceremony highlights
Kyoto Prize Presentation Ceremony highlights

Watch highlights from the Presentation Ceremony on 10 November 2017.

Video page

Past events