The aim of this award is to promote the city of Barcelona as the European capital of science, supporting scientific knowledge and research in different areas. The prize aims to recognize the best career and trajectory of a person in the field of science and research, developed at the highest international level, with influence on different fields of knowledge and with a positive impact on the welfare of humanity. The name of the prize as Hypatia is intended to highlight the figure of the philosopher and scientist Hypatia of Alexandria (c. ad 355–415), a woman who knew how to combine and transmit all the fields of knowledge of her time and who, precisely for this reason, was assassinated by the forces of ignorance and fanaticism. The prize has a monetary award of €30,000, which is given at an institutional ceremony in which the winner gives a lecture on his or her research career. The prize is awarded every three years and alternates each year between the three main areas of knowledge: Science and technology; Life and health sciences; Humanities and social sciences.

Philosopher Nancy Cartwright is the winner of the third Hypatia Prize for her outstanding contribution to philosophical research. Nancy Cartwright’s work has had far-reaching consequences in various fields of knowledge, from the natural sciences to the social and human sciences. Her contributions have laid the foundations for an approach that combines rigour and realism and aims at evidence-based policy. Nancy Cartwright focused her early career on the philosophy of physics. She later turned to the social and economic sciences, paying particular attention to causality, evidence and modelling. Her recent research has been concerned with scientific evidence, objectivity and how to operationalize scientific knowledge, particularly to improve policy deliberation. She has also worked on education, child protection and international development projects.

The jury for the third Hypatia Prize comprised Björn Wittrock, professor emeritus at the University of Uppsala; Genoveva Martí, ICREA research professor at the UB; Maria Dolors Garcia-Ramon, professor emeritus at the UAB; Alexander Fidora, ICREA research professor at the UAB; Ricard Guerrero, professor emeritus at the UB; and Natàlia Amorós, secretary delegate of the Department of Culture, Education, Science and Community of the Barcelona City Council.

The award was presented on 27 October 2022, at a ceremony in the Saló de Cent of Barcelona City Hall as part of the Building Bridges conference of the Academia Europaea, at which Nancy Cartwright gave the lecture ‘Modelling objectively’.

The laudation was given by Carl Hoefer, ICREA research professor at Universitat de Barcelona, in the presence of Jordi Martí, Deputy Mayor of Barcelona in charge of the area of culture, education, science and community, and Professor Marja Makarow, President of Academia Europaea.