Academy of Europe: Farooq Azam awarded the 2026 Kyoto Prize

More...

View Page Source

Farooq Azam awarded the 2026 Kyoto Prize#

Professor Farooq Azam MAE, Emeritus Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, was awarded the 2026 Kyoto Prize for “Elucidating the Role of “Microbial Loop” in Marine Carbon Cycling”.

Farooq Azam proposed the “microbial loop” concept based on his findings that dissolved organic carbon, previously assumed to be lost from the marine food web, is instead recycled by bacteria and protists. Moreover, he revealed the significant roles of microorganisms in the global biogeochemical cycle, especially in the carbon cycle, leading to substantial advancements in marine ecology and biogeochemistry.

About Farooq Azam#

Farooq Azam is a researcher in the field of marine microbiology. He is a Emeritus Professor from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography

of the University of California, San Diego where he held the position Professor / Distinguished Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego from 1996 until 2017.

Farooq Azam grew up in Lahore. He attended the University of Punjab, where he received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in chemistry. In 1968 he received his Ph. D. in microbiology from Czechoslovak Academy of Science, Prague. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Stony Brook University, New York, he moved to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography UCSD in 1969 where he studied ecology and biogeochemical significance of marine microbes; coral microbiology, biochemical adaptations of marine bacteria; and the role of bacteria in marine food-web dynamics. Prof. Azam was elected as member of the Ecology and Evolution Section of Academia Europaea in 2019.

Farooq Azam was the lead author on the paper which coined the term microbial loop. In addition to introducing the concept of the microbial loop Azam is responsible for bringing conceptual advances in several areas of marine microbiology.

Academia Europaea congratulates Prof. Azam to this distinction!#

About the Kyoto Prize#

The Kyoto Prize is an international award of Japanese origin, presented to individuals who have made significant contributions in the fields of science and technology, as well as the arts and philosophy. This internationally renowned award was born out of the sincere wish of Kazuo Inamori to “contribute to the progress of the future of humanity while maintaining a balance between the development of science and civilization and the enrichment of the human spirit.”