The Inamori Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2025 Kyoto Prize, often referred to as Japan's equivalent to the Nobel Prize, recognising transformative achievements in the fields of Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts and Philosophy.
The Blavatnik School of Government will welcome the laureates in 2026 as part of the Kyoto Prize at Oxford, which unites world-class thinkers with future policymakers in a unique celebration of the breakthroughs which shape a better world.
The Kyoto Prize Laureates for 2025 include:
- Shun-ichi Amari, Specially Appointed Professor at Teikyo University and Honorary Science Advisor at RIKEN, who helped to lay the mathematical foundations of artificial intelligence (AI). One of his key contributions is "information geometry", using spatial tools to understand how AI systems learn from information. This has led to the design of more advanced AI models, shaping the development of statistics and machine learning.
- Azim Surani, Director of Research at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, who is recognised for his discovery of genomic imprinting in mammals, defying assumptions that the expression of a gene is equivalent regardless of its parental origin and uncovering how genes can be expressed differently depending on whether they come from the maternal or paternal genomes. He has also played a key role in understanding how early cells – "germ cells" – in embryos are programmed. His research has fundamentally changed our understanding of the development of mammals.
- Carol Gilligan is a psychologist and moral philosopher who paved the way for a more expansive, inclusive understanding of ethics. While traditional views of moral development focus on rules, justice and fairness, Gilligan's work underscores the important role that care and empathy can play in moral decision-making. Her call for an "ethic of care" brings a new perspective to sociology, education and social policy, laying a new academic foundation for addressing global societal challenges including women's empowerment and the welfare of older people.
About the Kyoto Prize
The Kyoto Prize is an international award presented to individuals who have contributed significantly to the scientific, cultural, and spiritual betterment of humankind. The traditional Kyoto Prize Presentation Ceremony will take place in Kyoto, Japan in November where Commemorative Lectures by the three Laureates will be delivered. Details of these lectures will be announced in due course on the Kyoto Prize website. The laureates then travel to San Diego in March 2026 for the Kyoto Prize Symposium, and Oxford in May 2026 for the Kyoto Prize at Oxford.
