Finalists Named in Prestigious Young Scientists Award

The Blavatnik  Awards honor highly innovative, impactful and interdisciplinary accomplishments in the life sciences, physical sciences and engineering with unrestricted financial prizes for both finalists and awardees. This year's finalists will be announced at the Academy's 7th annual Science and the City Gala on November 15, 2010 in New York.

According to the official press release, the dozen finalists - five postdoctoral fellows and seven faculty members - were chosen from among more than 150 nominations by a jury of 58 top scientists after two rounds of reviews. The faculty finalists will receive up to $25,000 in unrestricted funds, and postdoctoral finalists will receive up to $15,000 in unrestricted funds.

"For the fourth year, The New York Academy of Sciences is proud to recognize the best young scientists that our area's academic and research institutions have to offer," said Academy President Ellis Rubinstein, in the press release. "The generosity and prescience of the Blavatnik  Family Foundation in establishing this annual prize is remarkable and has already gone a long way to support some of the most important science emerging from New York area laboratories today."

First awarded in 2007, the Blavatnik Awards were initiated by Mr. Len Blavatnik, American industrialist and philanthropist. The Blavatnik Family Foundation and Mr. Blavatnik have a long history of providing scholarships to advance science and educational programs in the U.S. and worldwide. Mr. Blavatnik is the founder of Access Industries, a U.S. based industrial group with investments in natural resources and chemicals, media and telecommunications and real estate.

"A strong and steady pipeline of highly trained scientific talent is more essential than ever if we are to successfully address the many challenges that face society and the world," said Mr. Blavatnik,  chairman of Access Industries. "I'm pleased that we are able to provide badly needed support to our most promising young scientists as they pursue their careers."

In addition, Len Blavatnik, entrepreneur, has taken a healthy interest in the film industry over the past few years. Most recently, he was linked to a possible deal to buy troubled movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and his name has also been mentioned in connection with a possible bid to take over Miramax. However, this recent activity shouldn't come as a surprise, as people who have followed Blavatnik closely know that Blavatnik has invested in the entertainment industry in the past.

Access Industries, the holding company founded and chaired by Len Blavatnik, is a minority owner in Warner Music Group. This is one of the largest record companies in the world and also includes Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world's leading music publishers. In 2009, Access Industries made its first foray into the movie world when it acquired the U.K. operations of Icon Productions, which was founded by Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey and has since produced such movies as "Edge of Darkness" and "Push."

There has also been entertainment industry-related Blavatnik news coming out of Israel in recent months. Blavatnik recently exercised an option to increase his stake in the privately-held media company RGE Group to 33 percent - up from 20 percent and matching the stake of the other principle shareholders. RGE Group controls NOGA Communications, which produces and operates four Israeli television channels including channels dedicated to children's programming, sports, documentaries and education. Blavatnik has shown a keen interest in Israel and Jewish culture throughout his life, ranging from the scope of his business dealings to the work of the Blavatnik Family Foundation