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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON WATER SCIENCES AND RESEARCHTen years of awarding innovationAbdulmalek A. Al Alshaikh, General Secretary, Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for WaterOn 21 October 2002, His Royal Highness Prince SultanBin Abdulaziz – who at the time was Saudi Arabia’sCrown Prince, deputy prime minister, minister ofDefence and Aviation, and inspector general – announced thatnominations were open for a new scientific prize: the PrinceSultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW).Prince Sultan already had a long history of environmental activismin Saudi Arabia. In 1986, he established the National Commissionfor Wildlife Conservation and Development to protect the nation’sindigenous wildlife. In 1990, he became chairman of the SaudiMinisterial Committee for the Environment, which sets forth thenational strategy for environmental protection.PSIPW is Prince Sultan’s most far-reaching and global legacy.From the start, he envisioned it as a prize that would award scientificinnovation in water-related fields, and recognise scientists,inventors and organizations around the world for their efforts incombating the ever-growing problem of water scarcity. Now, tenyears on, PSIPW is realizing its founder’s dream of awarding themost relevant and innovative scientific breakthroughs that providereal solutions to fulfil humanity’s need for potable water.The Prize Council is headed by the founder’s son His RoyalHighness Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, who shares hisfather’s enthusiasm for environmental activism. After witnessing firsthandhow human activity is rapidly destroying the world’s coral reefs,he established the Khaled Bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation in the2000 to advance his vision of ‘Science Without Borders’. Under itsauspices, his yacht fleet, led by Golden Odyssey and the support vesselGolden Shadow, is frequently employed in major scientific researchexpeditions, such as the Global Reef Expedition.The Prize Council is comprised of leading scholars fromaround the world. Although PSIPW is headquartered in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia, at King Saud University’s Prince Sultan Institutefor Environmental, Water and Desert Research, true to its internationalfocus the Prize Council holds its meetings in differentcities around the world in conjunction with various water events.PSIPW is open to nominations from researchers and researchorganizations working in all water-related areas. To ensure itattracts the best, most relevant nominations from around theworld, PSIPW offers a suite of five bi-annual prizes that cover theentire water research landscape:• The Creativity Prize is awarded to an innovator or pioneer fora breakthrough in any water-related field. It might be a body ofresearch, an invention, or a new patented technology• The Surface Water Prize covers every aspect of the study anddevelopment of surface water resources• The Groundwater Prize focuses on all aspects of the study anddevelopment of groundwater resources• The Alternative Water Resources Prize awardsinnovative work in desalination, wastewatertreatment and other non-traditional sources of water• The Water Management and Protection Prizecovers the use, management and protection ofwater resources.US$266,000 is allocated for the Creativity Prize, whileUS$133,000 is allocated for each of the four specializedwater prizes. Nominations are currently beingaccepted for the 6th Award, 2014 and are open until 31December 2013. All nominations can be made onlineat www.psipw.org.Nominations are evaluated by an internationalpanel of distinguished scientists, which serve onvarious specialized committees for each prize, startingwith the preliminary evaluation committee,followed by the referee committee and ending withthe final selection committee.Over the years, PSIPW has had the honour of awardingits various prizes to leading scholars in waterresearch, such as Dr Jery R. Stedinger, Dr HermanPSIPW was founded by HRH Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz(1930-2011) in 2002Image: PSIPW[ 325 ]