The Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation of Germany bestows the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award every two years. Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850–1891) was the first major Russian female mathematician, who made important contributions to mathematical analysis, differential equations and mechanics, and the first woman appointed to a full professorship in Northern Europe. This prestigious award named in her honor is given to promising young academics to pursue their line of research in the sciences or arts and humanities. The foundation encourages applications from all areas of the academy so long as the investigator received a Ph.D. in the last six years and may be categorized as "top flight" by their publications and experience as commensurate with age.
There have been 59 awards since the inception of the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award in 2002. Individual awards may total up to 1.6 million Euro each. Funds are awarded to build and lead a team of researchers for a five year period within a German host institution. The award is arguably one of the most prestigious and innovative awards in the world and is designed to foster long-term connections between Germany and world class young talent.
The next round of award winners, up to eight in total, will be announced in late March 2010. In the last round there were approximately 75 applicants and eight awards available, therefore the success rate of each application was around 10-15%. The next application period begins in 2011 and the number of awards will be announced nearer to the Autumn of 2011.
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