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ISCMNS Prizes The history of prizes for contributions to progress in Condensed Matter Nuclear Science stretches back to at least 1993. In that year the Italian automotive group Fiat instituted the "Truffle Prizes" and these were awarded at the first four Asti Workshops in Piedmont. For those who are not gourmets, the truffle is an underground fungus which grows on the roots of oak trees in certain climates including the alpine foothills surrounding the Italian city of Asti. It is a highly valued addition to many recipes such as the ubiquitous pasta. Like many exotic and rare delicacies, appreciation of the truffle is an acquired taste! This taste is not always appreciated, so in 1999 it was proposed to replace it with a more tangible and longer lasting token of excellence and esteem. In 2003 a series of silver medals were minted to commemorate the late Italian physicist Giuliano Preparata who passed away in April 2000. The cost of the Giuliano Preparata medals was generously covered by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Asti In 2008 thanks to generous donations, ISCMNS minted the Minoru Toyoda Gold Medal in 94 g of 18 carat gold. Minoru Toyoda Gold Medal
Signora Emilia Campochiaro Preparata presented the first Minoru Toyoda Gold Medal to Martin Fleischmann in Castel Santangelo, Rome on October 8th 2009. Prof. Akito Takahashi has prepared this background information on the medal.
Truffle Prize Winners
October
1993 Yan Kucherov (Russia)
October
1995 Akito Takahashi (Japan), Francesco Piantelli (Italy) November 1997 Franceco Celani (Italy)
October 1999 Melvin Miles (USA)
Giuliano Preparata Medal Winners
March 2004 Yasuhiro Iwamura
(Japan), Tadahiko Mizuno (Japan) and Antonella De Ninno
(Italy)
November 2004 Peter Hagelstein (USA)
November 2005 Edmund Storms (USA),
Yoshiaki Arata (Japan), Xingzhong Li (China), September 2006 Akira Kitamura (Japan) at Asti, Italy. June 2007 Alexander Karabut (Russia), Andrei Lipson (Russia) at ICCF13 Sochi, Russia. October 2007 George Miley (USA) at Catania, Italy. August 2008 Irving Dardik (USA) at ICCF14 Washington, DC.
Choosing the winners The truffle prizes were originally awarded by a scientific commission nominated by the sponsors who paid for the awards. As time went on, this commission was augmented by the prize winners themselves. In June 2004, the stock of Preparata medals was donated to ISCMNS which administers them through the Awards Committee currently chaired by Dr Scott Chubb. The ISCMNS Executive Committee sees the need to make the selection process transparent and is seeking the opinions of the membership. Feel free to send your proposals to secretary@iscmns.org No prizes were awarded at the 6th International Workshop on Anomalies in Hydrogen / Deuterium loaded Metals (Siena) in May 2005.
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