Shaw Prize Committee Sets Rules for Computing Awards

The Shaw Prize Foundation will decide who receives the new computer science award, after an international committee of experts designed its scope, guidelines and selection process. The category adds another gate to the institution’s system for deciding which achievements earn major recognition.

Who Sets the Rules

The Shaw Prize added computer science as its fourth category, alongside astronomy, life science and medicine, and mathematical sciences. The annual awards were first presented in 2004. The new category follows the stated vision of Run Run Shaw, the late Hong Kong film mogul and philanthropist, who sought to recognise the quest for knowledge and honour achievements said to advance human civilisation and well-being.

The Shaw Prize in Computer Science planning committee began discussions on the category’s scope and structure in November 2024. It developed the framework, adjudication guidelines and selection process. Professor Tony Chan, former president of both the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, chaired the committee.

The official nomination process for all four categories opened on September 1 and runs to November 30. Winners are set to be confirmed in May or June next year, while the inaugural computer science awards are scheduled for a formal ceremony in October or November 2027. The route from nomination to recognition is clear: committees establish the criteria, and selected candidates receive the prize.

Recognition, Carefully Defined

The committee considered how broad the award should be and how it would relate to the Turing Award, named after British mathematician Alan Turing and often called the “Nobel Prize in computing.” It sought a category distinct from existing awards, with varied scientific views, members from academia and industry, and high standards.

“Almost everybody I called said ‘yes’, and that gave me a big boost in confidence,” Tony Chan said. He said members weighed pros and cons and considered details such as whether someone could win more than once, while leaving room for the separate selection committee. The nomination guidelines call for an open, inclusive and international outlook, with research quality and accomplishments as the main criteria.

Dr Raymond Chan, chair and council member of the Shaw Prize Foundation, which manages and administers general proceedings, said computer science had become foundational to world-changing technologies. “Our mission has always been to honour contributions that benefit humanity, and computer science is the foundation of today's world-changing technologies,” he said, citing AlphaFold’s impact on life sciences.

Who Gets to Define Excellence

John Hennessy, a member of the planning and selection committees, said the prize should recognise new contributions and work that could shape the next 10 years. He expected nominations from industry and academia, including relatively young entrepreneurs and postdoctoral researchers. “We want to emphasise excellence,” he said, pointing to the impact of artificial intelligence across science and social science.

Professor Jeannette Wing, also a member of both committees, said the group debated whether to focus on fundamental research or effects from particular applications, then chose to make the category as accommodating as possible. She stayed on the selection committee to help ensure the planning guidelines are followed when it reviews nominations and chooses the inaugural winners.

“Members of the planning and selection committee want the Shaw Prize in Computer Science to have the same prestige as the Turing Award,” Wing said. Tony Chan said committee members would seek work that is novel and represents a significant breakthrough, rather than an incremental improvement. The prize’s own leaders will define that threshold, judge the nominees and announce the winners. The inaugural computer science awards are scheduled for October or November 2027.