Judges who have won Nobel Prizes. Winners who will go on to win Nobel Prizes. Scientific discoveries that make a big impact on the energy industry and recognition by the President of the Italian Republic. Since it began in 2008, the Eni Award has become much more than a company prize. It is now a globally significant event for applied research and technological innovation in energy.

The 2023 Eni Award ceremony was held on Monday 16 October. As per tradition, the ceremony was held at the Quirinale Palace and was attended by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella. The involvement of Italy’s highest institutional office confirms the value of this increasingly important award for Eni and the scientific community.

Press Release  | Eni Award 2023: Eni's scientific research prizes were awarded today in the presence of the President of the Republic.

The winners of the fifteenth edition of the 2023 Eni Award have been awarded during an official ceremony held at the Quirinal Palace in the presence of the President of the Republic of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, on Monday 16 October. Afterwards, the winners had the opportunity to present their studies to and meet Eni researchers during the event “Eni Award Talks” at ROAD – Rome Advanced District.

The Energy Frontiers Award, one of the three main prizes, which honours the best research and innovation in the field of renewable energy sources and energy storage, has been awarded to Matthew Rosseinsky, from the University of Liverpool (UK). The Advanced Environmental Solutions Award, dedicated to research on air, water and land protection and industrial site remediation, was awarded to Thalappil Pradeep, from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (India). Finally, the Energy Transition Award, which celebrates the best innovations for decarbonizing the energy system, was awarded ex aequo to Yu Huang, from the University of California (Los Angeles, USA), and Jeffrey R. Long, from the University of California (Berkeley, USA).

For the Young Talents from Africa section, which was established in 2017 on the 10th anniversary of the Eni Award and dedicated to young talents from the African continent, the prize was awarded to Gloria Amo-Duodu, from Durban University of Technology (South Africa), Elshaday Mulu Fetene, from Moi University (Kenya), Tsion Ayalew Kebede, from Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), and Natnael Tilahun Sinshaw, from Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (Ethiopia).

For the Young Researcher of the Year Award, which honours two researchers who have completed their PhDs at Italian universities, the prizes were awarded to Michele Ghini and Hilmar del Carmen Guzmán Medina.

For the Eni Innovation Award section, which selects the most revolutionary projects developed by Eni researchers and technical experts, prizes were awarded to:

• Aldo Bosetti, Carmen Samà (Eni), Luca Madia, Massimo Zampato (EniProgetti) for patenting shell & tube reactor and redox process at high temperature.
• Antonio Amico, Giulio Assanelli, Lucia Bonoldi, Marcello Notari, Riccardo Po’, Luca Serbolisca (Eni) for developing Few Layer Graphite liquid dispersions (FLG-LD) for antimicrobial (antibacterial and antiviral SARS-COV-2), anticorrosive and anti-fouling paints applications.
• Francesco Argento, Andrea Vignali (Eni), Mauro Favaretto (EniProgetti) were selected for field test of the ATEX certified aerial drone for methane emission monitoring in Oil&Gas plants.

Furthermore, during the Ceremony, the “Eni Joule for Entrepreneurship” special mention was awarded to the teams:

• RECO2, a Pontecorvo (Frosinone)-based startup, has patented a virtuous circular economy process for the production of a wide range of useful products for sustainable building and street furniture through the reuse of industrial waste materials.
• Ohoskin, a Catania-based startup, has created and patented an alternative fabric to animal skin to be used in fashion, automotive and furnishing sectors, produced from orange and prickly pear waste, whose production chain is entirely in Italy.
• 20energy, Spoleto-based start-up, has developed, produced and commercialized an intelligent device that converts the kinetic energy dissipated by cars when slowing down into electrical energy that can be used on-site or distributed to the grid.

• Energy Frontiers award: technological innovation in the field of renewable energy and related energy management and storage technologies, in the context of decarbonizing energy systems.
• Advanced Environmental Solutions award: technological innovation to foster the development of a sustainable and resilient nature within a continuously changing climate scenario, through the enhancement of nature-based solutions, and the preservation and restoration of natural capital, in order to accelerate the transition towards circular economy, bio-economy and environmentally sustainable business models, accordingly with the “One Health - Planetary Health” perspective.  Energy Transition award: technological innovation aimed at reducing carbon footprint during the transition towards an environmentally neutral energy production system through improving energy efficiency in transport and industrial processes and promoting the use of sustainable (including from an economic viewpoint) technologies; for capturing, using and storing carbon dioxide (CCUS), together with increased energy efficiency, as a bridge to decarbonization of the energy system.
• Young Researcher of the Year award: two awards for graduates with PhD theses from Italian universities on these themes: development of a sustainable and resilient nature within a continuously changing climate scenario, through the enhancement of nature-based solutions, and the preservation and restoration of natural capital, in order to accelerate the transition towards circular economy, bio-economy and environmentally sustainable business models, accordingly with the “One Health - Planetary Health” perspective; renewable energies and energy storage; new technologies for H2 production (blue, green and turquoise hydrogen); capturing, using and storing carbon (CCUS), and energy efficiency as a bridge to decarbonization of the energy system.
• Research Debut - Young Talents from Africa award: four awards to go to graduates from African countries for a degree or master’s thesis carried out in an African university on these themes: development of a sustainable and resilient nature within a continuously changing climate scenario, through the enhancement of nature-based solutions, and the preservation and restoration of natural capital, in order to accelerate the transition towards circular economy, bio-economy and environmentally sustainable business models, accordingly with the “One Health - Planetary Health” perspective; renewable energies and energy storage; new technologies for H2 production (blue, green and turquoise hydrogen); capturing, using and storing carbon (CCUS), and energy efficiency as a bridge to decarbonization of the energy system. This category was created in 2017 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the award.
• Eni Innovation awards (for Eni researchers): three awards for ideas with the greatest potential for impact in terms of the innovation they could generate and for the best technological innovations resulting from Eni research.

The call for the 2024 edition of the Eni Award will expire on 24 November 2023. To apply, please download the regulations, the official announcements and the application forms at the links available on this page.

The Awards’ Scientific Committee that assesses applications and awards the corresponding prizes is made up of scientists belonging to the greatest research institutes in the world. At present among its ranks Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1987, and previously Robert Richardson, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1996, and the late Sir Harold Kroto, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1996.

We also continue to promote the development of an ecosystem of sustainable innovation aligned with Eni’s mission through the Eni Joule for Entrepreneurship award, a prize we have established through Joule (Italian) our business school, which complements the Eni Award in fostering the implementation, enhancement and transfer of technologies in the field of energy transition. The award aims to promote innovative and sustainable entrepreneurship in the field of decarbonization of processes and products, circular economy, and the fight against climate change, in order to contribute to Italy's social and economic development. The announcement and regulations will be drafted in the second half of 2023 and will be officially published by February 2024.

This infographic is a collection of the faces of leading figures in the Eni Award, video interviews with award winners and detailed descriptions of the research conducted, which can be filtered by year and theme. The evolution of an award focused on excellence.

^{The 2021 edition of the Eni Award was not held due to coronavirus pandemic.}

Again for 2024, there are three main prizes Eni Awards for Energy Frontiers, Advanced Environmental Solutions and Energy Transition, and awards for the Young Researcher of the Year, Research Debut - Young Talents from Africa and the Recognition of Innovation at Eni for our researchers. The deadline for applications is 24 November 2023.

To receive more information about the Prize, click here.