Vision

The Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) is a scientific prize with a focus on innovation. Established in 2002 by HRH Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, it rewards the efforts made by scientists, inventors and research organizations around the world which contribute to the sustainable availability of potable water and the alleviation of the escalating global problem of water scarcity.

To this end, PSIPW awards a suite of five prizes every two years, covering the entire water research landscape. In this way, PSIPW encourages research to find solutions to the various water-related challenges facing the world today.

History

On 21 October 2002, His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz – Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General – announced in Riyadh that nominations were being accepted for a new global Prize to be awarded biannually: the "Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water".

The Prize Council includes leading scholars from around the world. From its inception in 2002 until 2016, the Council was headed by His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, who continues to this day to guide PSIPW as its president. The General Secretariat of the Prize is headquartered in the Prince Sultan Research Center for Environment, Water and Desert, at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The 1st Awards were conferred in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2004. The Awards Ceremony continued to be held in Riyadh for the 2nd through 6th Awards. From the 7th Awards in 2016, the ceremony has been held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and Vienna.

The 7th Awards Ceremony took place at the UNHQ in New York and was honoured by the participation of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (pictured to the left). The 8th Awards were officiated by Mr. Elliott Harris, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Mr. Volkan Bozkır, President of the United Nations General Assembly, both participated in the 9th Awards Ceremony in 2020. mr. Guterres continued to participate in the 10th and 11th ceremonies in 2022 and 2024.

Activities of PSIPW

1. PSIPW supports the research programs of the Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research at King Saud University, particularly those that relate to water issues. The most important of these programs is King Fahd’s Project for Rain and Floodwater Harvesting and Storage in the Kingdom, with which the Prize’s experts are directly involved.

2. PSIPW is a member of a number of leading international organizations, including the World Water Council. PSIPW also has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It was granted this status at ECOSOC’s Substantive Session of July 2013.

3. PSIPW and the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) have a long-standing Memorandum of Understanding for collaborating on work of vital importance to support and foster the use of space technology for water resource management. Among their important projects is the Space4 Water Portal, which seeks to gather together the world's stakeholders in space and water for mutual cooperation, collaboration and the sharing of information.

 

4. In conjunction with the United Nations and various space agencies, PSIPW co-organizes the bi-annual International Conference on the Use of Space Technology for Water Management, which to date has been held in Riyadh, Buenos Aires, Rabat, Islamabad, and Ghana.

1st International Conference on the Use of Space Technology for Water Management

5. PSIPW is an observing member of the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and participates in its meetings in Vienna.

PSIPW General Secretary Dr. Abdulmale A. Al Alshaikh at COPUOS in 2025

 6. Since 2016, PSIPW has sent a party-level deleate to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP). A number of PSIPW laureates have served as PSIPW's delegate and they have addressed the conference on various topics at the intersection of climate change and water management.

PSIPW Party-Level Delegate Professor Justin Sheffield Discussing Climate Change and Drought at COP 28 in the UAE

7. In conjunction with King Saud University and the Saudi Ministry of Water and Electricity, PSIPW organizes ICWRAE - the International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments, held concurrently with the Prize’s awards ceremony. This bi-annual conference addresses four main themes: water resources, water conservation, arid environments, and the utilisation of new technologies. The Conference also hosts workshops and seminars on the ministerial level.

ICWRAE Opening Ceremony in Riyadh, December 2010

8.PSIPW provides financing and support for the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize’s Chair for Water Research located at King Saud University. The Chair, in turn, supports a number of graduate students of various nationalities engaged in a program of research into rain and floodwater harvesting, for which these students are awarded their Masters and Doctorate degrees. The Chair is supervised by an international panel of distinguished scholars from within and outside of Saudi Arabia.

9. PSIPW is a member of the World Water Council and the Arab Water Council. PSIPW serves on the Arab Water Council’s Board of Governors, and as such actively participates in all of the Council’s meetings and conferences. It also provides support for some of the Arab Water Council’s activities.

10. In order to support ongoing research at every level, in 2017 PSIPW established the Prince Sultan Water Specialist Event Participation Grant which enables the participation of world-leading water scientists at conferences and as leaders of workshops and courses. It also enables distinguished water scientists from the developing world, and young researchers from all over the world, to attend conferences, seminars, workshops, and specialised courses.

Grant Recipient at CEST 2023 in Athens, Greece

11. PSIPW sponsors a number of important water and environmental conferences every year throughout the world where it promotes the work of its past winners and reaches out to potential nominees.

Opening Session of Environmental Science Conference, Rhodes, Greece

12. PSIPW has organized high-level water-related engagements around the world, bringing leaders, policymakers and scientists together. These events have been held in Singapore, the Netherlands, Jordan and the UK.

Prize Day in Singapore

Prize day in Singapore

Prize Day in Delft - The Netherlands

Prize Day in Delft - The Netherlands

Prize Day in Amman, Jordan