The University of Warsaw (UW) granted the Benedykt Polak Award. This distinction is awarded to Polish citizens for “outstanding exploratory achievements on earth, in the sea, in the air and in space” and to foreigners for “promoting Polish research topics and cooperation with our scientists”.

The main prizes, awarded to persons with Polish citizenship, were awarded to Dr Joanna Bocheńska from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, a specialist in Kurdish issues and Prof. Janusz T. Pawęska, the head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases of South Africa, virologist, organizer of international research expeditions to Africa.

The main prize, awarded to foreigners, was granted to the British astronomer Prof. Jan Charles Żarnecki, who was one of the six scientists conducting the unmanned “Huygens Surface Science Probe” mission to Titan, the moon orbiting Saturn.