Three European Commission financed research projects have now been awarded a share of the € 1 000 000 prize at a ceremony in Brussels. A grand jury of 22 eminent scientists from 11 different EU countries, Brazil, Morocco, Russia, and Turkey, selected the following projects:

• The High Energy Stereoscopic System which is a telescope system that has revolutionised existing astronomical observation techniques and increased our knowledge and understanding of the Milky Way and beyond;
• The Hydrosol project which has developed a method of producing hydrogen from water-splitting, using the energy of the sun, which could lead to environmentally friendly production of hydrogen for energy purposes;
• The APOPTOSIS project, wich has made great strides in our understanding of apoptosis (programmed cell death), is expected to lead to new developments in future treatment of cancer and AIDS.

The Descartes Prize ceremony coincided with celebrations of 50 years of research in the European Union and was attended by the German Federal Minister for Education and Research Dr Annette Schavan and European Science and Research Commissioner Dr Janez Potocnik. European Commission press release