The Rolex Awards for Enterprise
Fact Sheet
Programme Overview
The Rolex Awards for Enterprise were created to foster a spirit of enterprise and advance human knowledge and well-being around the globe. They support pioneering work in five areas: science and medicine; technology and innovation; exploration and discovery; the environment; and cultural heritage. In each series, ten Awards are presented to visionary men and women whose groundbreaking projects benefit their fields of endeavour, their communities and the wider world.
Winners are innovators who typically work outside the mainstream and often have limited access to traditional funding. Rather than reward past achievements, the Rolex Awards provide financial assistance and recognition to individuals embarking on new ventures or carrying out ongoing projects. Grants of $100,000 are awarded to five Laureates and $50,000 to five Associate Laureates in each series. These grants must be used to complete their projects. All ten also receive a Rolex chronometer.
In the 32 years since the Awards for Enterprise were founded, Rolex has inspired the work of a global network of visionaries. Chosen by a committee of specialists who themselves embody the spirit of enterprise that the Awards seek to promote, these past and current Laureates are helping to improve the human condition.
Selection Process
The Selection Committee is an independent, voluntary jury of international experts from a range of disciplines. Chaired by Rolex's managing director, a new jury is convened for each series, for which Rolex receives roughly 1,500 applications from more than 120 countries. The projects submitted are analysed over a ten-month period by a team of scientific researchers at Rolex before being presented to the Selection Committee.
Projects are judged on their feasibility, originality, potential for sustained impact and, above all, on the candidates’ spirit of enterprise. The Awards are open to anyone of any age, nationality or background. Applicants must show how they will turn an original idea into a functioning project, and how, through initiative and ingenuity, their projects will benefit mankind.
History of the Rolex Awards
The Rolex Awards for Enterprise were initiated in 1976 by the late André J. Heiniger, former chairman of Rolex, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Oyster chronometer, the world’s first waterproof watch. Since then, 110 Rolex Awards for Enterprise have been presented, honouring pioneers from 38 countries with projects in over 60 countries. Winning projects have helped to: protect rare and endangered species, from the tiny seahorse to the giant whale shark, and habitats, from the Amazon rainforest to coastal ecosystems in Thailand; revive time-honoured practices, from agriculture in the Andes and Africa, to traditional healing in the Himalayas; preserve and document ancient customs from Turkmenistan to Bolivia; record traditional cultural expression, from Mexican folk music to vanishing whistled and drummed languages; provide safe, affordable water, shelter, food and medicine in developing countries; and introduce revolutionary, technological and scientific inventions from lowpowered lighting system for use in isolated regions to a device that analyses animal behaviour in the wild.
Rolex Philanthropy
Since it was founded a century ago, Rolex has championed individual excellence and achievement in all its activities. In the 1950s, the company began assuring the reliability of its watches by asking leaders in sports and exploration to test them under extreme conditions – from the summit of Mount Everest to 10,000 metres underwater. During the past three decades, the company has continued to recognize excellence through two unique philanthropic programmes: from 1976, the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, and, from 2002, the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, a global programme that pairs emerging artists with masters in dance, film, literature, music, theatre and the visual arts for a year of intensive collaboration. Building on a legacy of supporting culture that dates back to the 1970s, when the company established unique relationships with many of the greatest living artists, Rolex launched the Arts Initiative to help ensure that artistic excellence is passed on to the next generation. Unparalleled in its artistic and geographic reach – over 200 notable talents from 39 countries have participated since its beginnings – the multidisciplinary initiative is currently in its fourth cycle.
By fostering innovation in science, exploration, conservation and the arts, both the Rolex Awards and the Rolex Arts Initiative advance the work of individuals who exemplify the vision, ingenuity and excellence that define the Rolex brand.