A new cycle of nominations for the Global Energy Prize will begin in January 2026. The prize fund is 39 million rubles (US$500,000; RMB 3.5 million).
Nominations can be submitted in three categories: “Traditional Energy,” “Non-Traditional Energy,” and “New Ways of Energy Application.” In accordance with the Prize’s regulations, self-nominations are not allowed. However, nominations may be submitted by scientists, research teams, and representatives of academic and scholarly organizations.
At the first stage, from January 1 to April 20, nominations will be collected. After that, all submissions will be reviewed by independent experts. Their evaluation will be based on a number of criteria, including scientific novelty, practical significance, and potential applications of the deliverables.
On the basis of the experts’ selections, a shortlist of 15 nominations will be built—five in each category. It is from this list that the International Award Committee, chaired by Nobel laureate Rae Kwon Chung (Republic of Korea), will select the winners in July. Over the past few years, the Global Energy Association has been striving to expand the Prize’s geographic representation—in particular, encompassing regions with rapidly growing energy consumption. Thus, the three winners in 2025 were from Russia, the United States, and China. At the same time, Global Energy conferences held in African and Latin American countries have yielded desired results in terms of global visibility of the award: Nominees from these areas have also been shortlisted for the first time, receiving Honorary Diplomas from the Association.
According to tradition, the award ceremony will be organized as part of the Russian Energy Week, a forum that will take place in Moscow in the fall of 2026.
“Our main goal is to provide an honest, professional, and open platform. I urge researchers from around the world not to hold off participation and to make their submissions at the earliest possible time,” said Sergey Brilev, President of the Global Energy Association.
“Each year, the Global Energy Prize becomes an increasingly significant event for the global scientific community,” noted Rae Kwon Chung, Chairman of the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee. “This underscores a fundamental truth: the language of science remains universal, understood in every part of the world, and today it is precisely this language that helps us find answers to global challenges. Despite the already high international standing of the Prize, I hope that in the new cycle we will see even broader representation of countries and scientific schools,” he added.
Since the Global Energy Prize was established in 2003, 56 scientists from 16 countries have become its laureates.
