Four prizes of 2.5 million rubles (over $83,000) each are presented annually for scientific research and achievements. The prize can be awarded to a single applicant or a group of scientists consisting of no more than three people.
The 2012 prize was awarded to five researchers working in the fields of biomedicine, organic synthesis, the study of elementary particles, and the study of Old Russian culture.
Nadezhda Bokach, DSc in Chemistry, Associate Professor of St Petersburg State University, was awarded the prize for achievements in the development of modern methods of organic synthesis with platinum group metals.
Fedor Ignatov and Kornely Todyshev, researchers at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, were awarded the prize for their work investigating the properties of elementary particles in colliding electron-positron beams.
Andrei Usachev, DSc in History, Professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities, was awarded the prize for his contribution to the study of 16th century Russian manuscripts.
Biologist Dmitry Chudakov was awarded the prize for the development of genetically encoded fluorescent markers for the visualisation of objects and processes in biomedical research.