Nominations for the 50th King Faisal Prize officially open
The General Secretariat of the King Faisal Foundation has officially opened nominations for the 50th King Faisal Prize, to be held in 2028, across five categories.
In a written statement received in Jakarta on Tuesday, Secretary-General Abdulaziz Al-Sebail stated that each category features a specific academic theme established annually. For the upcoming 2028 awards, the Islamic Studies category will focus on the theme “Muslim Heritage in Al-Andalus,” while the Arabic Language and Literature category will present the theme “Arabic Literature from a Comparative Study Perspective.”
Furthermore, the Medicine category will focus on “RNA-based Therapies,” and the Science category will highlight the theme of “Biology.”
Al-Sebables explained that nominations can be submitted by universities, organisations, institutions, and scientific research centres. The nomination period will run from 1 September 2026 until the end of March 2027. Nominations can be sent to the email address nominations@kingfaisalprize.org or via the online nomination portal at www.kingfaisalprize.org/nominations.
The opening of these latest nominations follows the same procedure as the 48th King Faisal Prize held in Riyadh in April 2026, under the support and patronage of King Salman.
Among the recipients of the 2026 King Faisal Prize was Prof. Svetlana Mojsov in the Medicine category for her pioneering research on glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). Additionally, the award in the Science category was presented to Prof. Carlos Kenig for his research on non-linear partial differential equations and mathematical analysis, with applications ranging from fluid mechanics to optical fibres and medical imaging.
In the Islamic Studies category, the award was given to Abdelhamid Hussein Mahmoud Hammouda and Mohammed Waheeb Hussein for their research on historical Islamic trade routes. Finally, the Service to Islam category was awarded to Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Fozan, a Saudi Arabian philanthropist, and Prof. Mohammed Hassanin Aboumousa, an academic from Egypt.