The VinFuture Prize was established to honor scientific research and breakthrough technological innovations that can make a significant difference in the daily lives of millions of people. The awards honor outstanding inventors and researchers from universities, academies, research labs around the globe, as well as inventors in a professional research environment.
The VinFuture Foundation has opened the nomination portal for the 2025 award season.
The deadline for nomination submissions for the 2025 VinFuture Prizes is 2:00 PM, April 17th, 2025 (Vietnam Time, GMT +7). Nominations received after this deadline will be considered for the following year.
Watch the Nomination Form’s instructional video here:
The VinFuture Prizes consists of:
A Grand Prize of US$ 3 million, awarded annually for breakthrough research and technological innovations that positively improve the quality of human life, and create a more equitable and sustainable world for future generations. The Grand Prize would be open to all, regardless of the candidate’s nationality, age, gender, social status, or economic background.
And three additional Special Prizes of US$ 500,000 each with a focus on promoting diversity, equity, and new fields of study will also be awarded annually to:
Innovator(s) from Developing Country(ies);
Women Innovator(s);
Innovator(s) with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Fields.
The VinFuture Prizes will recognise breakthroughs across all fields of science, technology and engineering that have already delivered impact or show the potential to deliver impact for real-world problems that align with at least one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
There should be clear evidence, or potential, for an end-product or service based on the solution, which has an everyday practical application;
Solutions should have already benefited millions of people in the past 10 years for the Grand Prize, or have the potential to benefit millions of people in the next 10 years for the Special Prizes;
Solutions should be aligned with one or more of the United Nation’s SDGs;
Solutions must be scientifically proven (i.e., there should be clear evidence of passing relevant scientific trials, and in the case of research, it must be empirically proven or widely reviewed);
Open to researchers or inventors who were involved in developing the underlying solutions, and not entrepreneurs or corporates who helped in commercialization/diffusion of the technology;
End-products of the research should benefit people globally, including those from developing and less developed countries, as well as lower-income and disadvantaged communities;
Open to individuals or teams of researchers/inventors;
Preferences are considered for nominees in the active stages of their careers;
Same individual/team can be nominated for one or more of the VinFuture Special Prizes if eligible;
Research/Solution/Invention can be underpinned in any discipline of science, engineering, or technology, including potentially multi-disciplinary approaches.
VinFuture Special Prize for Innovators from Developing Countries: Awarded only to researchers or innovators working in a developing country organization. In case of a nomination involving a team, then all the team members should be working in developing countries. The center of gravity of their work should be in developing countries. The list of developing countries is available here.
VinFuture Special Prize for Women Innovators Awarded only to women researchers or innovators, with no restriction on nationality, age, social status, or economic background of the nominees.
VinFuture Special Prize for Nominators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Fields “Emerging field” is any field that is non-traditional and its researchers may come from different disciplines. In other words, when multiple disciplines are combined to merge and to form something new, that is what we mean by “emerging fields.” Some examples of emerging fields are Quantum Computing or Neuromorphic Computing, Bioelectronics, Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Biometrics, Quantum Biology, Bioengineering, etc.
The VinFuture Prize will partner with prestigious academic institutions and organizations around the globe to identify the most outstanding nominations that create meaningful change in the everyday lives of millions of people.
No self-nominations are accepted.
Only nominations submitted in English are accepted.
Both organizational/institutional nominators and individual nominators can submit their nominations for the VinFuture Prizes via the Online Nomination Form.
VinFuture Prize welcomes nominations from reputable organizations such as universities, research institutes/centers, academies of science and technology, scientific associations/networks, corporations and industries, innovation incubators and from prominent individuals in the related areas.
The deadline for 2024 nomination submission is 2:00 PM, April 17th, 2024 (Vietnam Time GMT +7). Only online nominations submitted through this system before the deadline will be considered for this year. Nominations submitted after the deadline will be considered for next year.
