Rolex Awards Ceremony, The Royal Society, London, England, November 17, 2014 (photo: Nick Harvey)

The 2016 awards presentation will mark the 40th anniversary of the program. The jury members met in Geneva, Switzerland in April to discuss who they were going to pick as this year's Laureates. There will be 5 Laureates who receive 100,000 Swiss francs and 5 Young Laureates (aged 18 to 30) who receive 50,000 Swiss francs.

“As we begin the fifth decade of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, we welcome the outstanding group of Jury members who are giving their time to help us choose the latest winners of our long-standing, international philanthropic program,” said Rebecca Irvin, Head of Philanthropy at Rolex.
Jury members include electrical engineer Ghada Amer of Egypt, German marine biologist Antje Boetius, sustainability leader María Emilia Correa of Colombia, American underwater photographer David Doubilet, British mathematician and science communicator Marcus du Sautoy, American biomedical engineer and innovator David Edwards, astronaut Chris Had eld of Canada, physicist Stefan Hell of Germany, Ethiopian agricultural scientist Segenet Kelemu, social entrepreneur Johann Olav Koss of Norway, Indian philanthropist and social entrepreneur Rohini Nilekani and gastroenterologist and university Vice-Chancellor Joseph J. Y. Sung of Hong Kong.
“The demographics of the applicants they will be scrutinizing closely reflect the world at large: the growth of entrepreneurism in developing countries; the importance of innovative technology to our lives; and the increasing power and presence of women today,” Irvin added.