The Daylight Award, the biennial prize honouring outstanding contributions to daylight research and daylight in architecture, is now open for nominations for its 2026 edition.
Every second year, The Daylight Award honours both a researcher and an architect whose work advances the understanding and application of daylight. Nominations for 2026 are open from 16 May 2025, UNESCO International Day of Light, until 15 September 2025.
One award, two prizes
The Daylight Award celebrates both scientific research and architectural practice, connecting disciplines that are often approached in isolation. By encouraging this interdisciplinary exchange, the award aims to strengthen the holistic understanding of daylight and increase its positive impact on human health, well-being, and society at large.
The Daylight Award for Research is given to individuals or small teams for highly original and influential advances in natural, human, or social sciences, with particular focus on the impact of daylight on health and nature, as well as its technological use for a more healthy and sustainable society.
The Daylight Award for Architecture is awarded to architects or professionals who create architecture or urban environments that exemplify unique and innovative use of daylight, improving quality of life and contributing to societal well-being.
Each laureate, whether an individual or a team, receives a prize of €100,000.
Jury Members
Gerd Folkers (Jury Chair), Professor emeritus for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Director of the Collegium Helveticum and Professor for Science Studies at ETH Zürich, CH
Dorte Mandrup, architect, founder and creative director of the architectural practice Dorte Mandrup A/S, Chair of the 2019 Mies van der Rohe prize, DK
Russell Foster, neuroscientist, director of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Head of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience, laureate of The Daylight Award 2020, UK
Annette Gigon, architect and co-founder of Gigon Guyer Partner Architekten, laureates of The Daylight Award 2012, CH
Iwan Baan, architectural and documentary photographer, NL, US
Yvonne de Kort, Professor and Chair of Environmental Psychology of Human – Technology Interaction at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), NL
Michael J. Balick, Vice President, Senior Philecology Curator and Director, Center for Plants, People and Culture, The New York Botanical Garden, US
Terms of Participation and Nomination
Nominations are welcome from organisations, architects, researchers, and other professionals with expertise and interest in daylight. Individual nominations are also accepted.
Nominations can be submitted either via an online form or by sending an email to office@daylight.academy
The jury will announce the 2026 laureates in May 2026.