Shaw Prize adds Computer Science category as artificial intelligence reshapes research
The Hong Kong‑founded prize joins Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematics by recognizing computing’s foundational role
Artificial intelligence has moved from a specialist research topic to an underlying force across science, industry, and everyday life. That shift is now prompting one of the most consequential changes in the Shaw Prize's history.
In response to the growing centrality of computing and intelligent systems, the Shaw Prize Foundation has announced the creation of the Shaw Prize in Computer Science, marking the first expansion of the award since its launch.
The decision reflects how computation now underpins progress across nearly every scientific domain, from astronomy and medicine to mathematics and the social sciences. While the Shaw Prize has long celebrated fundamental discoveries, the pace and breadth of advances driven by computing have made the addition both timely and unavoidable.
“Technology has transformed nearly every aspect of our lives — how we live, learn, work, connect, and even dream about the future,” said Raymond Chan, Chair of the Shaw Prize Foundation. “Computing power that once filled entire rooms now fits in our pockets, and intelligent systems are helping us tackle some of humanity’s biggest challenges.”
Chan described Computer Science as a discipline that now sits alongside the basic sciences traditionally recognized by the Prize, arguing that its intellectual depth and global impact align closely with the original vision set out by the late Run Run Shaw.
“Computer Science pervades everything we do,” he said. “This field is bursting with bold, thought‑provoking questions that push human thinking to new limits, demanding rigorous reasoning, imagination, and insight.”
Computer Science should not be narrowly equated with artificial intelligence alone. Instead, the discipline spans a wide range of computational theories, systems, and technologies that underpin modern infrastructure, improve livelihoods, and accelerate scientific discovery across fields.
Within that breadth, most scientists would agree that the rapid rise of artificial intelligence has become one of the most visible and consequential expressions of Computer Science, and is likely to remain a central and intensely debated focus of the field for decades to come.
Expanding legacy
The Shaw Prize Foundation announced the new category on January 28 at a press conference in Hong Kong, attended by more than 100 guests from academia, the media, and related sectors. Founded in 2002 and first awarded in 2004, the Shaw Prize has honored more than 110 individuals across three original categories: Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences.
The addition of Computer Science represents the Prize’s first structural change in over 20 years. According to Kenneth Young, Chair of the Shaw Prize Council and Vice Chair of the Board of Adjudicators, the expansion was deliberately designed to preserve continuity with the existing awards.
“The new prize will be run in parallel with the three existing ones, and within the same framework and the same selection guidelines,” Young said.
He emphasized that the criteria guiding the Shaw Prize remain unchanged, despite the addition of a new field.
“The Shaw Prize honours individuals, regardless of race, nationality, gender, and religious belief, who are currently active in their respective fields and who have recently achieved distinguished and significant advances,” he said. “The Shaw Prize is dedicated to furthering societal progress, enhancing quality of life, and enriching humanity’s spiritual civilisation.”
As with the other categories, the Computer Science prize will carry a monetary award of US$1.2 million, shared by up to three laureates each year.
Shaping discipline
Planning for the new category began in 2024 and was led by Tony Chan, former president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who chaired the Planning Committee for the Shaw Prize in Computer Science. Chan said the challenge was to design an award broad enough to capture the field’s diversity, while remaining focused on foundational contributions.
“When the Shaw Prize Foundation contacted me about getting involved in the fourth Shaw Prize in Computer Science, my first reaction was: ‘It’s about time!’” Chan said. “My second reaction was, ‘It’s an honour and a privilege to be asked to chair the Planning Committee.’”
He described the creation of the new prize as a natural response to computing’s growing influence across research and society.
“The establishment of the fourth Shaw Prize in Computer Science is both natural and timely, reflecting the transformative role of computing in shaping modern research and society,” Chan said.
One of the committee’s priorities was assembling a group capable of defining long‑term guiding principles for a rapidly evolving discipline.
“From the beginning, I wanted the absolute best people to serve on the Planning Committee,” Chan said. “It bodes well for the vision of the Prize that the best people choose to participate.”
Their mandate extended beyond immediate trends to consider how future, as‑yet‑unknown developments might reshape the field.
“We want our prize to be broad and inclusive, to recognise fundamental advances as well as broader impact, and to accommodate future development yet unknown,” he said.
Next steps
Oversight of the new category will mirror that of the existing prizes. A dedicated Selection Committee, chaired by Jennifer Chayes, Dean of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society at the University of California, Berkeley, will review nominations and make recommendations to the Board of Adjudicators and the Shaw Prize Council.
“The Selection Committee is tasked with making one set of recommendations for ratification by the Board of Adjudicators and by the Council,” Young said.
Nominations for the inaugural Shaw Prize in Computer Science will open from September to November 2026, with the first laureate or laureates scheduled to be announced in spring 2027. The addition brings the total number of annual Shaw Prizes to four, as the award enters its 23rd year.
The move is intended not only to recognize past achievements but also to signal the growing importance of ideas that sit at the intersection of theory, computation, and real‑world impact.
“By adding Computer Science, The Shaw Prize will continue to spotlight the most groundbreaking ideas of our time — ideas that benefit humankind,” Raymond Chan said.
I resonate with what you wrote, it's truly validating to see computer science recognized on this level, though sometimes I wonder if "basic science" fully captures the unique, aplied, and rapidly evolving nature of the field's impact.