The Descartes Prize was an annual award in science given by the European Union, named in honour of the French mathematician and philosopher, René Descartes.
The prizes recognized Outstanding Scientific and Technological Achievements Resulting from European Collaborative Research. The research prize was first awarded in 2000 and was discontinued in 2007.
The research prize was awarded to teams of researchers who had "achieved outstanding scientific or technological results through collaborative research in any field of science, including the economic, social science and humanities."[1] Nominations were submitted by the research teams themselves or by suitable national bodies.
A science communication prize was also started in 2004 as part of the Descartes Prize but in 2007 was separated to the Science Communication Prize.
Proposals (also referred to as submissions) received were judged and a shortlist of nominees were announced, from which five Laureates (finalists) and five Winners were announced at a prize ceremony in December each year.