The Honda Prize is an inter-national award that acknowledges the efforts of an individual or group who contribute new ideas which may lead the next generation in the field of ecotechnology. The Honda Foundation has given one award every year for a variety of research results.

The Honda Prize does not merely consider scientific and technological achievements from the viewpoint of new discoveries and inventions, but it also takes into account entire processes that would bring out, apply, or share new frontiers in ecotechnology and the broad range of related scientific fields. Supporting top runners in science and technology who have created new value is our first step towards helping to solve the problems we are directly faced with. From this point of view, we at the Foundation want to put a spotlight on achievements of a variety of fields based on a wide perspective in the future.

■Recipient of 2012 Honda Prize
Dr. Denis Le Bihan
Director of NeuroSpin, CEA Saclay, France

Awarded for his pioneering efforts in theorization of water diffusion measurement by MRI and its application in clinical practice. Spared many patients suffering acute stroke and other neurological disorders, the techniques have rapidly spread throughout the world.

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■Recipient of 2011 Honda Prize
Dr. Gabor A. Somorjai
Professor of Chemistry, the University of California, Berkeley

Awarded for his establishing the methodology to visually describe surface interactions at the molecular level. His peers naturally began to hail him as the "father of modern surface chemistry".

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■Recipient of 2010 Honda Prize
Dr. Antonio Damasio
David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience, the University of Southern California

Awarded for his pioneering efforts and remarkable contributions in the world of neuroscience symbolized with his influential Somatic Marker Hypothesis, by focusing on the roles of emotions and feelings in human behavior, including consciousness and decision-making.

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