Sheikh Mohammed to honour six Great Arab Minds Award winners

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, honours the six winners of the Great Arab Minds Award 2025 on Thursday.

The ceremony at the Museum of the Future in Dubai marks the third edition of the largest award of its kind in the Arab world. The winners’ families, along with academics, diplomats, officials, scientists and specialists from a range of sectors, attend the event.

Members of the Higher Committee of the Great Arab Minds Initiative, the Nominations Committee and the specialised committees for each of the award’s six categories are also present.

The winners are Prof Majed Chergui in the natural sciences category; Prof Abbas El Gamal in the engineering and technology category; Dr Nabil Seidah in the medicine category; Prof Badi Hani in the economics category; Dr Suad Amiry in the architecture and design category; and Prof Charbel Dagher in the literature and arts category.

Majed Chergui, emeritus professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, receives the award in the natural sciences category. He is recognised for his work in shaping techniques that enable scientists to observe ultra-fast atomic motion with great precision.

Abbas El Gamal, a professor at the School of Engineering at Stanford University in the US, receives the award in the engineering and technology category. He is known for his contributions to network information theory, which laid the foundation for many modern digital networks worldwide.

Dr Nabil Seidah receives the award in medicine in recognition of his contributions, particularly in the development of medication to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. He has published over 820 scientific papers, with his research being cited more than 71,000 times.

Badi Hani receives the award in economics for his contributions to panel data analysis, a field that enables researchers to study trends by combining data across time periods and multiple sources. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and written several influential academic works.

Suad Amiry wins the award for architecture and design. She is known for preserving the architectural heritage of Palestine. As founder of the Riwaq Centre for Architectural Conservation, she plays a key role in one of the largest documentation initiatives in Palestine, establishing a registry of more than 50,000 historic buildings.

Prof Charbel Dagher receives the literature and arts award for his contributions to poetry, writing, literary criticism and the study of Arabic arts. He has published more than 90 books, with his works widely used as references in the study of Arabic literature and art.

Sheikh Mohammed launched the Great Arab Minds Award in January 2022, allocating Dh100 million ($27.2 million) to fund the initiative. The first winners were announced in 2023.

The award aims to celebrate scientists, thinkers and innovators every year.

Its profile grows with each edition, with one of the 2024 winners, Prof Omar Yaghi, later winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2025.