The groundbreaking research of both winners in mathematics and computer science contributes to more efficient and reliable AI, and helps bring fundamental research closer to societal applications. Through the awards and the accompanying Van Wijngaarden Soirée, CWI aims to highlight the role of fundamental research in shaping the future of AI in the Netherlands and Europe, and to stimulate debate about what that future should look like.

The five-yearly awards are named after former CWI director Aad van Wijngaarden. The winners will receive the prize on November 20, 2026, during a soirée in Amsterdam, combined this year with a diner pensant. The evening centres on a two-part question: what do Dutch AI leaders need from Europe, and how can Europe benefit from Dutch AI? Enrico Letta, former Prime Minister of Italy, will deliver the keynote, followed by Judith Tielen, State Secretary for Education and Emancipation. A panel of leaders from academia, government and business will then discuss how AI is transforming scientific research and education.

Schönlieb, Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, is a leading researcher in mathematical imaging and inverse problems: reconstructing hidden information from incomplete, noisy measurements. She combines partial differential equations, variational methods and optimisation with machine learning, with applications ranging from medical imaging to art conservation. Harchol-Balter, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, researches how computer systems can schedule their computing resources as efficiently as possible to minimise response times and energy consumption, and is a Fellow of both ACM and IEEE.