Paris, January 19 (No.2001-08) - The Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science - one of UNESCO’s science prizes - will be awarded to Ernst Wolfgang Hamburger, director of the Estação Ciência, a centre of the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) dedicated to the popularization of science and technology, in a ceremony in New Delhi (India), February 26.

Mr Hamburger, who was born in Germany in 1933 and emigrated to Brazil with his parents three years later, has been Professor of physics in São Paulo since 1960. He has contributed to the popularization of science through numerous articles and his book - O Que é Fisisca? - as well as programmes broadcast on TV Cultura. In 1994, Mr Hamburger received the José Reis Science Popularization Prize and became director of the Estação Ciência, part of the UNESCO-supported RedPop science popularization network in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mr Hamburger has contributed to the development of the Estação Ciência, through the organisation of many exhibitions and the mobilisation of sponsors for innovative activities such as the Projeto Clicar, created in 1996 with the support of the national petroleum company, Petrobras. Estação Ciência receives 25,000 visitors a month, mostly children and adolescents. Projeto Clicar was established to provide a special space with computer equipment to young people who wish to explore independently the various facets of human knowledge. In 1999, close to 600 children from troubled social or family backgrounds took part in the project. Educators and students assist the children in their exploration.

The Kalinga Prize, whose recipient gets £1,000 and the Albert Einstein Silver Medal, was created by UNESCO in 1952 following a donation from the Indian Kalinga Foundation. It is awarded in recognition of a contribution to the popularization of science, technology and research. Previous laureates include six Nobel Prize winners. In 1999, the Prize was given to Professors Marian Ewurama Addy (Ghana) and Emil Gabrielian (Armenia).

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For more information on the Projeto Clicar see: www.eciencia.usp.br/

For more information about UNESCO’s science prizes see: