While recipients of the Nobel Prize garner media attention for their past achievements, many lesser known scientists, researchers and innovators are quietly receiving million-dollar prizes from the U.S. government in an effort to promote new ideas and scientific breakthroughs. Since 2003 Congress has been authorizing a growing number of “innovation inducement prizes” designed to encourage scientists and engineers to pursue scientific and technical goals for the betterment of the nation, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service.

 

The study found most prizes range from $250,000 to $2 million, with some reaching as high as $10 million or even $500 million (because the work led to the development of a new vaccine). Some examples include the Department of Defense’s “Wearable Power Prize” intended to produce a “long-endurance, lightweight power pack” for combat soldiers, the Transportation Department’s “Progressive Automotive X Prize” to develop automobiles that get more than 100 miles per gallon and NASA’s “Astronaut Glove Challenge” to develop more flexible and durable gloves to use in space or during “planetary surface excursions.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Federally Funded Innovation Inducement Prizes (by Deborah D. Stine, Congressional Research Service) (PDF)