This year’s $890,000 Balzan Prizes awared for research on aging, restorative justice, climate crisis

MILAN — An Australian criminologist specializing in restorative justice and a U.S. scientist whose work helps address the climate crisis are among the winners of this year’s Balzan Prize announced Monday.

The four annual prizes by the International Balzan Foundation recognize outstanding achievements in the humanities and natural sciences with a 750,000 Swiss franc prize (800,000 euros/$890,000), half of which must support young researchers.

John Braithwaite of the Australian National University was recognized for developing and spreading the practice of restorative justice, focusing on rehabilitating offenders through reconciliation with victims and the wider community.

Braithwaite, 73, leads the Peacebuilding Compared project and is the founder of the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University.

Omar Yaghi, 59, of the University of California, Berkeley was cited for his pioneering role in the development of nonporous materials used for carbon capture, hydrogen storage and harvesting water from the desert air.

“These pioneering materials are now at the forefront of global efforts to tackle critical sustainability and environmental challenges facing our planet,’’ Balzan said in its citation.

Also honored was Michael N. Hall, an American-Swiss molecular biologist at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum, for advancements in the study of aging. Hall, 71, was cited for identifying the role of two proteins central to the mechanism by which dietary restriction extends healthy lifespan.

American science historian Lorraine Daston was recognized for a body of work that has “opened up new paths in the history and epistemology of science.” Daston, 73, is the director emerita of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science of Berlin.

The 2025 Balzan Prizes will be awarded for contemporary art history, classics studies as well as the scientific study of atoms, and gene and gene-modified cell therapy.

This year’s prizes will be awarded Nov. 21 in Rome.