Mustafa Prize

What Mustafa Prize does

The Mustafa Prize is a biennial science and technology award established in 2012 and operated by the Mustafa Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF), a registered Iranian non-profit headquartered in Iran. The award recognizes prominent researchers from the Islamic world in two categories — Life and Medical Science and Technology, and Basic and Engineering Sciences — with each laureate receiving USD 500,000, a specially designed 925 Sterling Silver medal coated in 24-carat gold with a Yemeni Agate, and a certificate. Twenty percent of each prize is allocated to follow-on grant programs (research, sabbatical, travel, publishing, joint project, scientific center establishment, postgraduate admission, and scientific society membership) for researchers in Islamic countries.

The foundation has completed six award cycles between 2015 and 2025, with laureates drawn from a global footprint that spans Iran, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Turkey, Germany, Lebanon, the UAE, Pakistan, India, and Morocco, targeting scientists across 57+ OIC member countries. In 2025 it introduced the Young Scientist Medal for researchers under 40, endowed by prior laureates Prof. Ugur Sahin (BioNTech) and Prof. Omid Farokhzad. Beyond the biennial ceremony at Vahdat Hall in Tehran, the foundation runs the Observatory Podcast, Observatory Magazine, Science Cafés, the Science and Technology Exchange Program (STEP), and co-organizes the Pardis Science Festival with Pardis Technology Park inside Iran's International Innovation District.

Mustafa Prize does not generate commercial revenue; it is financed through endowments made to the Prize, including individual contributions from laureates. Its business model is therefore a foundation model: capital is raised from endowment donors, deployed as biennial cash awards and grant programs, and reinforced through content and event programming that sustains the brand and laureate network between cycles.

Name

Mustafa Prize

Legal name

Mustafa Science and Technology Foundation

Website

https://mustafaprize.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Mustafa Prize is an Iranian non-profit biennial science and technology award recognizing top researchers from 57+ Islamic countries, granting USD 500,000 per laureate across two categories and operating the MSTF secretariat, Young Scientist Medal, podcasts, and public science festivals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Science & Technology Awards

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Grants, Fellowships & Stipends (International) (EDAIAOAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC), Foundation/NGO & Philanthropic Scholarships (EDAIAOAH)

Keywords

• Science technology awards
• Research recognition prizes
• Scientific excellence awards
• Academic research grants
• Science funding programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Tehran

HQ country

Iran

HQ region

Middle East

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Mustafa Prize is a biennial science and technology award granted to prominent researchers from the Islamic world in two categories (Life and Medical Science and Technology; Basic and Engineering Sciences). Each laureate receives USD 500,000 financed through endowments, plus a special medal and certificate. Twenty percent of each prize is allocated to follow-on grant programs (research, sabbatical, travel, publishing, joint project, scientific center establishment, postgraduate admission, and scientific society membership grants) supporting researchers in Islamic countries.

Product overview

Mustafa Prize is a science and technology award organization that operates as a platform offering multiple interconnected programs and publications. The core offering is the Mustafa Prize Award, a prestigious biennial science award granted to top researchers from the Islamic world in two categories (Life and Medical Science and Technology, and Basic and Engineering Sciences), worth USD 500,000 per laureate along with a special medal. The organization complements the award with the Young Scientist Medal for emerging researchers under 40, the Observatory Podcast featuring interviews with laureates, Observatory Magazine for scientific content, Science Cafe events for public engagement, the Science and Technology Exchange Program (STEP) for knowledge circulation, and the Pardis Science Festival as a major public science engagement initiative.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mustafa Prize Award A top science and technology award granted biennially to prominent researchers and scientists of the Islamic world in two categories: Life and Medical Science and Technology, and Basic and Engineering Sciences. Laureates receive USD 500,000 along with a special medal and certificate.
• Young Scientist Medal An award granted to scientists under 40 from Islamic countries with innovative scientific achievements that have improved human life.
• Mustafa Prize Medal

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Pardis Technology ParkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 November 2026Joint organizers of the Pardis Science Festival, Iran's first science festival. The festival is hosted at Pardis Technology Park within Iran's International Innovation District, bringing together scientists, researchers, technology companies, startups, and the public for science engagement.
• Mustafa Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF)coreOthersMSTF operates the secretariat of the Mustafa Prize and pursues all affairs relevant to the Prize, including inviting for nominations, organizing events, identifying sponsors, and managing endowment programs.
• Iran International Innovation ZonecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Pardis Science Festival and Pardis Technology Park are located within Iran's International Innovation District, providing infrastructure and ecosystem support for the science festival.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Gairdner Foundation: Canada-based annual biomedical research prizes awarded to leading international scientists. Comparable in mission, foundation structure, prize purse, and category-based awarding model.
• Zayed Sustainability Prize: UAE's annual sustainability-focused prize (formerly Zayed Future Energy Prize) with substantial prize purse and high-profile ceremony, targeting global impact categories. Comparable Muslim-world philanthropic award infrastructure targeting global recognition.
• Breakthrough Prize: Foundation-backed science prize awarded annually with a $3M purse, founded by Yuri Milner and Silicon Valley billionaires. Comparable in scale, prize purse, and use of celebrity scientific recognition for brand building.
• King Faisal Prize: Saudi Arabia's King Faisal Foundation awards an annual, multi-category prize (including science and medicine) with substantial cash awards for distinguished researchers, including from the Muslim world. Closest structural analog to Mustafa Prize in scope, geography, and Islamic-world positioning.
• Japan Prize Foundation: Annual Japanese science and technology prize honoring achievements that promote peace and prosperity. Comparable in being an endowment-funded, country-rooted foundation awarding substantial cash prizes for scientific achievement.
• Shaw Prize Foundation: Hong Kong-based annual prize in Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences with a $1.2M purse. Closest peer in model (endowment-funded, high-purse, biennial-or-annual cadence, scientific category segmentation).
• Kuwait Prize (KFAS): The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences awards annual prizes across multiple scientific fields to Arab and developing-country researchers. Most direct geographic and thematic peer for an Arab/Muslim-world science foundation.
• Wolf Prize Foundation: Israel-based annual Wolf Prize awarded for outstanding achievements in multiple science categories. Comparable in being a large-purse, donor-endowed, multi-category science prize administered by a foundation secretariat.

Emerging players

• Femtech / L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science: Joint L'Oréal-UNESCO program recognizing female scientists globally and within regions including the Islamic world. Adjacent peer because it targets subsets of the same scientific population with grant/recognition programs.

Regional players

• Hamdan International Prize for Medical Research: Dubai-based Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Prize awarded biennially to medical researchers. Strong regional peer, focused specifically on medical sciences with Muslim-world relevance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@mustafa_prize?si=jIoDwrP-qx87yW9R
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mustafa-prize
• Xx.com/MustafaPrize
• Facebookfacebook.com/MustafaPrize

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Mustafa Prize