Frontiers Planet Prize 2024

The Frontiers Planet Prize celebrates breakthroughs in sustainability science, rewarding solutions that show measurable potential to help humanity remain within the boundaries of the Earth’s ecosystem. Its aim is to engender international competition and support collaboration that will help accelerate scientific discoveries worldwide.

The Frontiers Planet Prize is designed to bring forward and recognize the scientists who will help Earth remain within its 9 planetary boundaries.

1. Biosphere Integrity
2. Climate change
3. Novel entities – substances such as man-made artificially produced chemicals - ranging from plastics to pesticides, and nuclear waste – which enter our environment.
4. Stratospheric ozone layer
5. Atmospheric aerosol loading
6. Ocean acidification
7. Biogeochemical flows
8. Freshwater Use
9. Land-System change

Eligibility:

• The Frontiers Planet Prize will be awarded to the best research published in established peer-reviewed scientific journals, with robust peer review and transparent publication procedures.
• The acceptance date of the article must fall within the 2 years prior to the launch of the competition (date of acceptance: 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2023). Scientific excellence is the default principle to participate in the Frontiers Planet Prize.
• Research from all disciplines, including social sciences, is eligible, on the condition that it is focused on planetary boundaries and offers new insights that help to reduce the destabilization of the Earth system.
• Submissions must present the best potential applicable solution to tackle planetary (environmental) threats. The solution should be scalable, involve a maximum number of the planetary boundaries, and contribute to the general understanding of the planetary boundaries. Submissions will be assessed based on the:

• Applicability of the research results
• Scalability of the application
• Number of planetary boundaries involved
• Contribution to general understanding of Planetary boundaries
• Scientific novelty
• Research quality

Scientific criteria:

• The research advances insights, approaches, and scalable solutions for humanity’s ability to navigate a world that develops within the safe operating space of the planetary boundaries.
• The research has the potential for breakthrough applications that can reduce or reverse the planetary imbalances.
• The research must explicitly (analytically) connect (explore implications) several planetary boundaries at the Earth system scale. Research that explores interactions/relations between multiple planetary boundaries will be prioritized.

The Prize

• A research grant of 1 million Swiss francs to facilitate and accelerate the research and development of the winning research.
• The opportunity to present and discuss winning research in roundtable discussions at some of the world's most relevant conferences and regional events.

Nomination procedure

Interested individuals must submit the application form (see attachment below) to Meredith.chatman [at] mcgill.cs (Meredith Chatman )by October 15, 2023.

McGill University can select three individuals to be forwarded to the National Nominating Body (National Research Council of Canada). The National Research Council of Canada will select the Canadian contingent of nominees to go forward to the Frontier Foundation.