The Prigogine Award 2014

The conference was opened by the University Authorities in their Aula Magna, with a special ceremony to award the 2014 Prigogine Gold Medal.

The Academic procession comprising members of the University and some of the senior members of the International Scientific Advisory Committee entered the Aula Magna, followed by the Vice Rector, Professor Francesco Frati and the Director of the Wessex Institute of Technology, Professor Carlos A Brebbia.

Prof. Brebbia & Prof. Ho

Professor Frati declared the proceedings open and described the importance of the event, welcoming the delegates in the name of the University of Siena. The Prigogine Medal was established by the University and the Wessex Institute of Technology to honour the memory of Professor Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize Winner of Chemistry.  He was a mentor of the work carried out in the Ecodynamics Group and Honorary Co-Chair of the Conference on Ecological Systems and Sustainable Development, organised by both institutions.

Prof Brebbia then referred to the importance of Prof Prigogine’s work.  Born in Moscow in 1917, Ilya Prigogine obtained his undergraduate and graduate education in Chemistry at the Free University of Brussels.  He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to non-equilibrium thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures.  The main theme of his scientific work was the role of time in the physical sciences and biology.  Prigogine contributed significantly to the understanding of irreversible processes, particularly in systems far from equilibrium.  The results of his work have had profound consequences for understanding biological and ecological systems.

Prigogine’s idea established the basis for ecological systems research.  The Prigogine Medal – Carlos said – to honour his memory, is awarded annually to a leading scientist in the field of ecological systems.  All recipients have been deeply influenced by the work of Prigogine.

Previous Prigogine Laureates were:

• 2004       Sven Jorgenson, Denmark
• 2005       Enzo Tiezzi, Italy
• 2006       Bernard Patten, USA
• 2007       Robert Ulanowicz, USA
• 2008       Ioannis Antoniou, Greece
• 2009       Emilio Del Giudice, Italy
• 2010       Felix Müller, Germany
• 2011       Larissa Brizhik, Ukraine
• 2012       Gerald Pollack, USA
• 2013       Vladimir Voeikov, Russia

Prof. Ho receiving the medal

Prof Simone Bastianoni, from the Ecodynamics Group at the University of Siena, commented on the personality of the late Enzo Tiezzi (Prigogine 2005).  He expressed how difficult it was to accept that Enzo was no longer with us, so strong was his influence for the Science Group.

Enzo was a renaissance man, building bridges across different disciplines, his work continuously evolving, from chemical processes to biology, ecosystems and many human endeavours.

Enzo did not believe in the idea of becoming overspecialised in a very minor narrow field.  He thought that it was always important to understand the whole, to see the forest, rather than focus all our energies in researching only one particular tree.

The 2014 Medal has been awarded to Prof Mae-Wan Ho, founding Director of The Institute of Science in Society.

Prof Brebbia explained that the Dr Ho’s work provides information about biotechnological issues as well as sustainability, climate change and, in particular, the nature of water.

Prof Ho received a PhD in Biochemistry from Hong Kong University.  She was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Biochemical Genetics at the University of California, San Diego; Senior Research Fellow at Queen Elizabeth College; Lecturer in Genetics and Reader in Biology at the Open University, UK.

Prof Ho is the author of several books and Editor of Science in Society, produced by her Institute.  She is a prolific author.  Two of her books are prominent in explaining the role of biological water in organising living processes.  She has been extremely productive with nearly 200 scientific papers, over 600 popular articles and several more books.

Moreover, she has written a book showing the lack of sustainability of genetically modified organisms.  She has also contributed significantly to the thermodynamics of complex systems, and has discussed extensively the Prigogine ideas.  A recent article of hers discusses what should be a reliable thermodynamics of living organisms, developing a Prigogine’s approach.

Following the introduction, Prof Ho was given the Medal by Prof Nadia Marchettini, widow of the late Enzo Tiezzi (Prigogine Medal 2005).

Buffet lunch after the medal ceremony

Upon receipt of the award, Prof Ho started her Special Prigogine Lecture on ‘Sustainable Cities: A New Perspective’.  She demonstrated that the circular thermodynamics based on dynamic closeness in natural space-time dimensions enable organisms to approach zero entropy production simultaneously at equilibrium and far from equilibrium conditions.  It confirms and extends Ilya Prigogine’s Principle of Minimum Entropy Production for living systems and has implications for sustainable cities and other built environments, as well as ecosystems and economic systems.

Dr Ho referred to the importance of fractals and their role in providing optimum energy consumption configurations.

This led to a discussion of why large systems are inefficient and the advantages of arranging for local energy generation and storage facilities using renewable resources, minimising emissions and CO₂ generation.  This can be done by recycling the waste, and redefining urban spaces at human scale.  The modern trend is towards a more compact city, creating new spaces.