Humanities award for 2025 goes to new cultural centre

It may not be quite as well-known as some prizes but the Prix Avicenne is awarded for outstanding achievements in the humanities and natural sciences.

It also acknowledges projects that contribute to the preservation and promotion of historical and scientific heritage.

Its objective is to highlight the importance of ethics in science, to foster reflection on this subject, and to raise awareness among scientists and the general public.

The award was first established by Paris-based UNESCO, the UN agency promoting world peace through international cooperation in education, science, culture, and communication, setting global standards, developing tools, and preserving heritage.

Past winners include, in 2019, Professor Donald A. Brown, Research Fellow in Sustainability and Law at Widener University's Commonwealth Law School in the United States.

In 2009 the award went to Professor Renzong Qiu, from China,while, in 2004, the winner was Professor Margaret Somerville (Australia/Canada).

The prize is named after the Persian polymath Avicenna and is awarded by the French scientific community.

An influential 11th-century physician, philosopher, and scientist, healer and humanist, Avicenna developed a holistic approach that is said to capture the "very essence" of the ethics of science. He has  become a source of inspiration for the promotion of this issue, which is said to be of crucial importance to UNESCO.

The award this year, as adjudged by the French scientific community, has just been announced - Uzbekistan's new Islamic Civilization Centre - and its representatives were presented with the award at a ceremony at the National Academy of Medicine of France in Paris.

Taking part in the ceremony were leading scientists, historians of medicine, orientalists, Islamic heritage specialists and representatives of cultural institutions of Europe.

The event heard that the centre was established at the initiative of Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to highlight the country's contribution to world culture. Award organisers said the centre, which is due to open to the general public next March, is an “excellent” example of a modern approach to the study of the heritage of Ibn Sina.

Centre director Firdavs Abdukhalikov said: "This award is further vivid evidence of international recognition of the large-scale activities of our president.”

The centre, he said, is a “unique author's scientific and cultural megaproject designed to return to the world the true intellectual heritage of the great thinkers of the East.This is a high honour and well-deserved appreciation of the work of hundreds of national and foreign scientists, researchers, translators and experts who form its scientific and educational content.

“It also symbolizes the deep respect of the world community for the historical role of Central Asia in the development of global scientific thought. We will continue to expand international research, strengthen scientific ties and continue work dedicated to the legacy of Avicenna and all outstanding thinkers of our land," he said.

The award organisers said that Uzbekistan, today, not only preserves its own cultural and scientific past but makes a “significant” contribution to world humanities, forming and initiating new large-scale projects, standards for research, restoration and cataloguing.

The centre holds some of the rarest manuscript copies of Avicenna's works while also organizing international conferences.According to French scientists, the centre brings the study and research of Avicenna's heritage to a new level and makes Uzbekistan a leading platform in this area.

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