First laureate of Victor Hambardzumyan award is the team of Swiss astrophysicist Michel Mayor

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Swiss Astrophysicist, Professor of Astronomy Department of Geneva University Michel Mayor and his scientific team, which includes Garik Israelyan (Spain) and Nuno Santos (Portugal) are the first laureates of international award after Viktor Hambardzumyan.

Mediamax reports that the Chairman of National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Armenia, Chairman of International Jury Radik Martirosyan announced this at a news conference in Yerevan today.

In order to define the winner, the Jury members (8 outstanding scientists from Armenia, Great Britain, Germany, the USA, France and Russia) were to choose among 14 works, presented for the competition.

Scientific Secretary of the Jury Areg Mikaelyan informed that the work, presented by Michel Mayor and his scientific team, is the most significant work in the sphere of astrophysics for the recent decade. “Back in 1995, Mayor discovered the first planet out of our solar system”, Areg Mikaelyan stated.

The international scientific award after the national hero of Armenia, Academician Viktor Hambardzumyan, was established by the decree of the Armenian President on April 16, 2009.

The award will be presented once in two years for outstanding scientific work in the sphere of astrophysics and allied physics and mathematics.

Citizens of Armenia and other countries may participate in the competition.

The awarding will take place on September 18, 2010 (on the birthday of the scientist).

The volume of the award will make $500 thousands in AMD equivalent.