Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is delighted that Nature is a 2007 winner of the prestigious Principe de Asturias award established by His Royal Highness Heir to the throne of Spain. The Principe de Asturias Award is the best-known cultural prize in the Spanish-speaking community. The awards honour individuals, groups or institutions whose creative work or research represents a significant contribution to universal culture in the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanistic fields. Nature shares the 2007 Award for Communication and Humanities with the journal Science.

“This is a wonderful honor that took us completely by surprise. It no doubt recognizes the dual role of Nature in communicating outstanding science and key societal issues to diverse audiences. But above all, it’s a reflection of the value and impact of scientific research itself within today’s culture”, said Nature Editor-in-Chief Dr Philip Campbell.

The award coincides with NPG’s launch earlier this week of NPG Iberoamerica, a new company dedicated to publishing for NPG in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds, particularly in the medical research domain.

“We are so honoured to receive this award”, comments Dr Annette Thomas, Managing Director of NPG. “I am visiting Madrid for the launch of NPG Iberoamerica and the bestowing of this award on Nature could not be more timely. We look forward with great enthusiasm to working with the Spanish-speaking scientific community not only in Spain but also in Latin America, under the leadership of Lucia Ferreiros, our newly appointed head of NPG Iberoamerica”.

The award for scienctific and technical research was won by Peter Lawrence and Gines Morata. The winners for the other categories are Amos Oz, Al Gore and Bob Dylan.