Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering 2027 (£500,000 prize)

Deadline: June 26, 2026

Applications are open for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering 2027. The prize is the world’s most prestigious engineering accolade, awarded to up to 10 engineers responsible for a bold, groundbreaking engineering innovation of global benefit to humanity.

Since 2013 they have honoured 42 eminent engineers whose innovations have affected billions of lives. Again, this year, they are seeking a diverse range of nominations that truly epitomise excellence in engineering.

Previous winning innovations include the Internet and the World Wide Web, (2013), controlled drug delivery (2015), digital imaging sensors (2017), the Global Positioning System (2019), LED lighting (2021), sintered Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet (2022), PERC solar technology (2023), wind turbine technology (2024), machine learning (2025) and modern neural interfaces (2026).

Prize

The winners will be awarded:

• a total cash prize of £500,000 (five hundred thousand GBP); and
• appropriate memorabilia to be decided by the Trustees in their sole discretion. In the event that the Prize is received by more than one individual (but not more than five individuals, as above) collaborating under a single nomination, the Prize money will be shared between the winners as determined by the Trustees in their sole discretion on the advice of the Judging Panel.

Eligibility

• The QEPrize is international and open to any nationality. Nominations and suggestions are welcomed from across the world.
• The only limitations are that self-nomination and posthumous nomination are not allowed.

Criteria

The judges will use these criteria to select the winner, or winners, of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering:

• What is it that this person has done (or up to ten people have done) that is a ground-breaking innovation in engineering?
• In what way has this innovation been of global benefit to humanity?
• Is there anyone else who might claim to have had a pivotal role in this development?

Application

Click here to apply

For more information, visit Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.