Sber has announced the winners of the 2025 Science Prize. The high prize is awarded to scientists whose research opens up new opportunities for the country's development and improves the quality of life of Russians. The total prize fund of this year's prize exceeds 100 million rubles. Each laureate in the main categories received 30 million rubles, and young scientists in the nomination “AI in Science” became the owners of 5 million rubles and received an additional 1 million rubles for cloud computing for further work.
The award ceremony took place in Moscow. The event was attended by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko, Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sberbank German Gref, Rector of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Kuleshov and other representatives of the scientific community.
“Our scientific prize is a way to say thank you to those who have devoted themselves to science. A way to inspire the numerous young scientists who have embarked on this important path. I do not know of a more meaningful job than that of a scientist,” said Sberbank Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Directors German Gref.
He noted that scientific activity requires great talent and perseverance, and emphasized that the prize is designed to support researchers, demonstrate their confidence and provide motivation for further development.
Gref added that science is a complex field, where results can often only be achieved after many trials. He emphasized that the purpose of the award is to support scientists who work persistently, demonstrating belief in their potential and value of contribution to the country's future.
In the category “Digital Universe”, the award was awarded to Roman Solovyov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Deputy General Director of Innovation at Alfachip, Professor at the KA Valiev Institute of Integrated Electronics at MIET and at the AN Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics at the Higher School of Economics. The prize was awarded for the creation of methods for designing integrated circuits using artificial intelligence and implementing neural networks in systems on chips, opening up prospects for the development of a new generation of Russian microelectronics.
The prize winner in the nomination category “World of Physics” is Sergei Krivovichev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Geological Sciences and Mineralogy, General Director of the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor of the Department of Crystallography at the Institute of Earth Sciences of St. Petersburg State University. Petersburg. The prize is awarded for the development of new approaches in Earth science – the theory of anion-focused complexes and information-entropy analysis methods – to understand mineral formation processes and create new mineral-like materials.
In the “Life Sciences” category, the winner was Boris Alekseev, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, deputy general director for scientific work of the National Medical Research Center for Radiology of the Russian Ministry of Health. His work focuses on developing new methods to treat prostate cancer, which significantly increase patient longevity, as well as creating molecular genetic diagnostic panels to identify aggressive forms of the disease at an early stage and personalize therapy.
Young researchers became winners in the “AI in Science” category. The award in the category “Physical World” was received by Mikhail Medvedev, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, senior researcher and head of the group of theoretical chemistry at the ND Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, associate professor and head of the group “AI in Chemistry” at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Higher School of Economics, researcher at ITMO and advisor to the director of the Center for Strategy and Artificial Intelligence. The award recognizes the development of artificial intelligence-based digital chemistry methods, including shape search algorithms and density functional theory methods, as well as their application to the prediction and study of chemical processes.
In the “Life Sciences” category, the winner was Dmitry Penzar, Candidate of Biological Sciences, researcher at the NI Vavilov Institute of Synthetic Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and teacher at the Department of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics at MV Lomonosov Moscow State University. His work involves developing neural networks to model and predict the properties of DNA nucleotide sequences that control gene activity, which is important for biotechnology and medical genetics. There was no winner in the Digital Universe category this year.
Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Rector of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology Alexander Kuleshov noted the importance of artificial intelligence for all fields of research. “Today it is difficult to imagine the future of science and society without artificial intelligence. But no field – whether AI, new materials or life sciences – can create real breakthroughs without the bold ambition and willingness of researchers to go beyond the conventional,” Kuleshov emphasized. He added that the Sber Prize is an important tool to recognize the achievements of scientists and create conditions for talented researchers to realize their full potential.
This year, 290 applications for the Science Prize were received – almost three times more than last year. Of these, 214 works were awarded in the main categories and 76 works were submitted by young scientists to participate in the “AI in Science” contest. Most of the works come from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Tomsk and Kazan.
Co-chairs of the committee for selecting the prize winners are German Gref and Alexander Kuleshov. The committee includes academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences Olga Dontsova, Alexey Khokhlov and Dmitry Treshchev, previous laureates Yuri Oganesyan and Sergey Lukyanov, first vice chairman of the board of directors of Sberbank Alexander Vedyakhin, senior vice president and head of Technological Development of Sberbank Andrey Belevtsev, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valentin Parmon, as well as the secretary committee, vice president, director of research and development innovation of Sberbank Albert Efimov.
