Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water atracts almost 200 nominations

With nominations now closed for the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water 2006-2008, the panel of judges will commence in March picking winners from 198 nominations from 53 countries. 73  nominations have been attracted by the new Creativity Prize, worth more than a quarter of a million dollars.

The current round of the Prize, which will be awarded towards the end of 2008, is the third in the series initiated with the patronage of  HRH Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz as a humanitarian contribution by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the world and as an initiative to address the growing problem of water resources worldwide, which is being exacerbated by global warming.

The Prize is intended to reward the efforts of innovative academics and scientists as well as related organizations in the realm of water resources. It has been established to acknowledge the special achievements that have contributed to the development of scientific solutions to solve the problems associated with the provision as well as the preservation of adequate and sustainable water resources, particularly in arid regions.

A special new Creativity Prize has been added to the awards for this round. Worth 1 million Saudi Riyals (SR) or around US$266,000, the Creativity Prize will be awarded to any original work (research, invention, technique etc) which is considered as a breakthrough in any water-related field. The work must be practically applicable, economically feasible and environmentally friendly.  

In addition to this new Prize, four additional Prizes are available for the best nominations in four topics in separate subsectors of water resources:

1- Surface Water:
    Topic: Sedimentation Control in Surface Water Systems.

2- Ground Water
     Topic: Exploration and Assessment of Ground Water.

3- Alternative (non-traditional )Water Resources.
     Topic: Innovative Methods and Systems in Desalination.

4- Water Resources Management and Protection.
    Topic: Water Demand Management in Urban Areas.

The Prize for each of these subsectors will be SR 500,000 ($133,000 approx.). Winners will also receive a gold medallion, a trophy and a certificate which will be presented at a special award ceremony.

“Because of the urgent need for water in arid regions like Saudi Arabia across the world,” explains the Prize General Secretary, Dr. Abdulmalek A. Al Alshaikh,  “there has been a sense of urgency to contrive supportive methods to water researches adopted at world scale.

“We have combined the search for these methods with a sense of appreciation extended to concerned intellectual inventors with the aim of providing them with a suitable, moral, and financial atmosphere conducive to a free and vivid spirit of contest. Such an atmosphere should result in creative constructive outcomes capable of producing benevolence and prosperity to all peoples in the kingdom, in the region, and in the whole world,” explains Dr Al Alshaikh.