Fred Kavli and the Kavli Institute

Isolated farms dotted the valley and mountain slopes.The river Eira flowed wide and fast into a fjord edged by snow-tipped mountains. I had bought the right to fish for salmon for a few days and had brought my wife and two children in a rented Winnebago to share a `different' vacation. They didn't think much of it. I had my fishing but apart from walking during the day and listening to the owls at night there was nothing to interest hip youngsters and a non-fishing wife.

Eresfjord was the name of this peaceful, pleasant valley - home to 450 hardy inhabitants. Fridtjof Kavli was born in Eresfjord and it was here that he and his brother cut their business teeth during the hard years of the German occupation of Norway. They produced home-made wooden cubes for use as fuel in the generators that non-military vehicles had to use during the war.

After the war Fridtjof Kavli studied at the Norwegian Institute of Technology where he took his degree in Physics and immediately sought new horizons; first in Canada and then in the United States. For a man like Fridtjof - who, by now had become the easier to say, and spell, Fred - the United States in those years must have been an inspirational paradise. With his technical education and entrepreneurial attitude it took him only two years to decide that he wanted to be his own boss. Thus the Kavilco Corporation in California was born.

The United States was one huge hive of activity in the fifties and sixties: new businesses, massive highway construction, expanding eductational facilities and a burgeoning population. Nowhere was more exciting and expansive than California and nothing was more challenging and rewarding than the transport industry. Fred Kavli decided that the road to success was in finding a niche - and for Kavlico the niche was sensors - sensors for the enormous auto industry, sensors for the infant airline industry and sensors for manufacturing. Under his leadership Kavilco became a prime supplier for many major US corporations and on the way the company patented many new inventions. Mr Kavli remained the sole owner of the company which, by the end of the 20th century, had become a multi-million dollar concern. In 2000 he sold the company and with the proceeds established the Kavli Foundation.

The overall aim of the Kavli Foundation is no less than to improve the quality of life for people in all walks of life. To achieve this, the Foundation concentrates its support on three areas: nanoscience, neuroscience and astrophysics. Fifteen research institutes have already been founded at prominent universities around the world - currently in the United States, Norway, Holland and China. More are planned.

In September this year, at the annual BA Festival of Science in York, England, The Kavli Foundation announced the establishment of the Kavli Awards. The awards, comprising a scoll, a medal, and one million dollars for each of the three disciplines, will be presented in co-operation with the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Professor Jan Fridtjof Bernt, of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, said that the announcement of the Kavli Awards was an important event - "... of Nobel Prize quality." Time Magazine, in an article in August, inferred a similar comparison.

Mr Kavli's own description was more down to earth:

"The Prizes are intended to reward scientists who often make significant contributions to society, yet spend their entire careers in obscurity. So I'm hopeful the prizes will help bring them - and science itself - a little bit of recognition. But we're also hopeful this will raise people's awareness, and give them a richer appreciation of the benefits of basic science in their own lives."

The first prize ceremony will take place in Oslo in 2008 and thereafter bi-annually.

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