The Heineken Prizes for Arts and Sciences consist of 11 awards biannually bestowed by Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The prizes are named in honor of Henry Pierre Heineken, son of founder Gerard Adriaan Heineken, Alfred Heineken, former chairman of Heineken Holdings, and Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, current chair of the Heineken Prizes Foundations, which fund all Heineken Prizes for Arts and Sciences. Thirteen winners of the Dr H. P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics or the Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for Medicine subsequently were awarded a Nobel Prize.

Organization

The five science prizes ($200,000 each) are:

1. Dr H. P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics 2–4. Dr A. H. Heineken Prizes for History, Medicine and Environmental Sciences
2. C. L. de Carvalho-Heineken Prize for Cognitive Sciences In 1988, the Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for Art was established to be awarded to an outstanding artist working in the Netherlands. The prize is €100,000, half of which is to be spent on a publication and/or exhibit. Since 2010, Heineken Young Scientists Awards are given to young talent in similar research fields as the Dr H. P. Heineken, Dr A. H. Heineken and C. L. de Carvalho-Heineken Prizes.

Selection

The selection system of the Heineken Prizes can be compared to that of the Nobel Prizes. Scientists from all over the world are invited to nominate fellow scientists for the Heineken Prizes. The Royal Netherlands Academy appoints special committees consisting of eminent scientists and chaired by a member of the board of one of the academy's two divisions. Both members and nonmembers of the academy are eligible for membership of these committees. An independent jury of members of the academy, acting in a personal capacity, chooses the winners of the Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for Art. The Heineken Prizes are awarded in a special session of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, which takes place every even year at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. In 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012 the Prizes were presented by the Prince of Orange.

List of laureates

Dr H. P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics

Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for Medicine

Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences

Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for History

C.L. de Carvalho-Heineken Prize for Cognitive Sciences (before 2014: Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for Cognitive Sciences)

Dr A. H. Heineken Prize for Art

Nobel Prizes

The following winners of the Heineken Prizes for Medicine and Biochemistry and Biophysics have since won a Nobel Prize: