(Source: http://newstring.ru/news/2013-02-11-77)

Academicians Yershov, Spirin and Troubetzkoy have become this year’s Demidov Prize winners. The awards are paid from Demidov Scientific Foundation, financed by business and industrial circles of Ural.

It was announced at the RAS presidium meeting that academicians from Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Yuri Yershov, Alexander Spirin and Clement Troubetzkoy have become Demidov Prize laureates of 2013. Yuri Yershov was awarded for outstanding performance in developing of mathematical logic. As it was declared at the meeting, academician and his students contributed a lot to the establishment and modern development of constructive models theory. Yershov created powerful methods of proving the resolvability of elementary theories of fields. He has been the leader of the Siberian school of algebra and logic for many years. Yershov was at the head of the Institute of Mathematics at Siberian branch of Russian Academy of Sciences for ten years and also worked as Novosibirsk State University rector for eight years.

Alexander Spirin was awarded the Prize for outstanding contribution to the study of biological basis of functioning of living cells. Academician Alexander Spirin is a distinguished Russian biochemist and one of the founders of modern world's molecular biology. He devoted many years to study ribosomes - "the cell’s molecular machines". Spirin has created a unique, cell-free continuous-exchange protein-synthesizing system, which allows synthesizing proteins outside the cell.

Spirin founded the Institute of Protein Research at Russian Academy of Sciences and led it for more than 30 years. For many years, scientist was the chairman of Presidium of the Pushchino Research Center of RAS, created with his immediate participation.

Clement Troubetzkoy was awarded for outstanding services in the sphere of mining. Academician created and now heads the leading scientific school in the field of integrated development and conservation of the Earth's interior. He put forward and substantiated the idea of intentional formation of technogenic deposits. Troubetzkoy stated at the meeting that different kinds of robotic mining equipment will start working in Russia by 2017.

Congratulating winners, the chairman of the board of trustees of the Demidov Scientific Foundation, RAS Vice-President Gennady Mesyats noticed that despite having difficult times, “in the Academy of Sciences, usually, is going on a normal life". Academician believes that scientific prize of this scale and fame "will hold out, for sure". “It began with Demidov, and I do not think it is over now,"- he said.

Demidov Prize has rich historical traditions. It was established by a wealthy Ural manufacturer Pavel Demidov in 1831 and by his last will was paid annually till 1865, until the financing was stopped. After a century and a half break Demidov Prize was revived in 1992 at the initiative of academician Gennady Mesyats, at that time the head of Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the support of the administration of Sverdlovsk Oblast.

Since then, the prize is awarded annually by the decision of Demidov Committee and paid from Demidov Scientific Foundation, sponsored by Ural business and industry. Same as in the past, this year Demidov Prize amount is one million rubles for each winner.