The Eric and Sheila Samson Prize, totaling one million US dollars, is the world’s largest monetary prize awarded in the field of alternative fuels and is awarded yearly to scientists who have made critical advancements towards achieving this goal. The winners are selected from a long list of worthy candidates recommended for the prize by university presidents and CEOs in industry, from Israel and from around the world. The winners are selected by a committee of international experts who submit their recommendation to a board of trustees, headed by former Technion President, Professor Yitzhak Apeloig.
The first recipient, Professor Jean Marie Tarascon, awarded the prize for his key contributions to the emergence of the present lithium ion battery materials as an alternative to liquid fuels to power electric vehicles.
The Prize ceremony took place during the Fuel Choices Conference in Tel Aviv on October 31, 2017.