The Oscars. The Booker prize. The Nobels. The award ceremonies that punctuate our year are all inherently backward-looking, celebrating past achievements. But there is another type of award, one that looks to the future 鈥� a challenge prize. Such prizes don鈥檛 recognise past successes, rather incentivise future ones.
The idea is simple: a challenge is selected 鈥� with a clear-cut target聽鈥� and a jackpot is offered to whoever first reaches that goal. Examples include the on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which has just awarded 拢8 million to Sysmex Astrego for its PA-100 AST System, a rapid diagnostic test that could transform the treatment of urinary tract infections and so help tackle the rise of AMR.
The challenge prize format has a lot to offer. By opening the field to the widest possible pool of inventors 鈥� Nobel laureates and mavericks alike 鈥� it can inspire myriad potential solutions to a problem. These prizes also raise the profile of, and have the power to solve, some of the most pressing problems of the time.
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Consider the original Longitude prize, launched in 1714 to tackle the greatest scientific challenge of that century: how to effectively measure longitude at sea. Without the ability to do this, many ships lost their way and foundered, so the British government established a prize of 拢20,000 (several million in today鈥檚 money) to reward whoever could solve the problem.
The challenge, overseen by the Board of Longitude, was met by John Harrison for his chronometer. This seafaring clock kept time to within 5 seconds on a rolling ship on a transatlantic voyage. This allowed sailors to determine their exact position, leading to safer shipping and opening up global trade routes.
Later, a 12,000-franc contest to find ways of preserving food for Napoleon Bonaparte鈥檚 army led to the invention of tinned food, and a $25,000-prize inspired the first solo transatlantic flight, by Charles Lindbergh. More recent challenge prizes have focused on suborbital space flight, driverless cars and robotics.
Challenge Works, an enterprise from innovation charity Nesta, has since revived the format in the UK, running more than 90 prizes and distributing 拢156 million in funding over the past decade or so.
As someone who, in 2014, had held three of the eight posts on the original Board of Longitude聽鈥� Astronomer Royal, president of the Royal Society and Cambridge professor of astronomy 鈥� it felt appropriate to commemorate the tercentenary of the Longitude prize鈥檚 launch. I suggested an 鈥渁nniversary鈥� prize to address a current challenge.
A shortlist of six topics was created 鈥� each representing one of the biggest scientific challenges of our era: antibiotic resistance, dementia, green flight, sustainable food, restoring movement to those with paralysis and access to clean water. A public vote determined the final choice: to design a test that could cheaply and quickly identify if a person鈥檚 disease was bacterial or viral and thereby avoid the prescription of unnecessary antibiotics 鈥� a major driver of antibiotic resistance.
In 2022, in partnership with Alzheimer鈥檚 Society, also launched a 拢4 million Longitude prize on dementia, looking to incentivise the creation of artificial intelligence-based technologies that can help those living with dementia to lead more independent lives.
The Longitude prize on AMR attracted some 250 entries, so it is thrilling that now, a decade after the award was launched, Sysmex Astrego鈥檚 PA-100 AST System has won. The company will receive millions, but it won鈥檛 be the only beneficiary. If its invention improves the treatment of urinary tract infections and helps stem the rising tide of antibiotic resistance, it is society that will be an even bigger winner.
Martin Rees is chair of the Longitude prize committee and the UK聽Astronomer Royal
