The 24th annual Kyoto Prize Symposium will be held March 12-13, 2025. The event is free and open to the public.

The Kyoto Prize is Japan’s highest private award for global visionaries who have made scientific and cultural advancements that benefit humankind. The esteemed 2024 Kyoto Prize laureates are John Pendry for Advanced Technology, Paul F. Hoffman for Basic Sciences, and William Forsythe for Arts and Philosophy.

John Pendry (Advanced Technology) – March 12, 10-11:30 a.m.
Pendry, a professor at Imperial College London, revolutionized the study of materials with his groundbreaking work on metamaterials. His research has led to innovations such as “superlenses” with subwavelength resolution and the development of “invisibility cloaks.”

Paul F. Hoffman (Basic Sciences) – March 12, 1-2:30 p.m.
Hoffman, a geologist and adjunct professor at the University of Victoria, is renowned for his research in the “Snowball Earth” (global freezing) hypothesis and plate tectonics occurring in the first half of the Earth’s 4.6-billion-year history. His fieldwork and findings have transformed our understanding of Earth’s climate history.

William Forsythe (Arts & Philosophy) – March 13, 10-11:30 a.m.
Forsythe is a visionary choreographer whose work has extended ballet to a dynamic contemporary art form. Forsythe has broken the boundaries of conventional ballet style, challenging traditional artistic frameworks and developing improvisation techniques.