The prize is awarded in one of the innovative areas, energy, and its form is unusual - square-shaped.
172-gramme gold medals, sized 45x45 mm, are made according to drawings by well-known Moscow designers.
On the obverse is a rising sun, symbolising the discovery made. On the reverse is a full sun, which is associated with the scope of the discovery, as well as the region of knowledge, which the prize supports.
Three medals - as many as the number of winners of the 2004 prize - are made by the best masters of the St.Petersburg Mint. Making a medal requires 15 operations, some of which must be performed manually.
In 2003, when medals were created for the first winners, a unique engraving tool was made. It is kept in the Mint for the annual manufacture of Global Energy prizes.
The medals will rest on a special support of mahogany. The medal is fixed between two transparent pieces of glass, creating the flying impression - the medal hangs in mid-air, symbolising the sun-idea in the scientific skies.
This year three medals are destined for three outstanding researchers - Fedor Mitenkov and Alexander Sheindlin of Russia and their American colleague Leonard Kokh. In 2004 these energy physicists were marked by the international Global Prize-awarding committee as specialists making an important share in the energy sector of the future.
The medals will be presented at a prize-winners' briefing, due in St.Petersburg in June prior to the awarding ceremony.
The Global Energy prize was established in 2002 on the initiative of the leading Russian scientists led by Academician Zhores Alferov, winner of the 2002 Nobel prize in physics. The 2004 prize money is 900,000 dollars.
In June 2003 the prize was awarded by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the first winners - Gennadi Mesyats of Russia and American scientists Nick Holonjak and Ian Douglas Smith. The ceremony was held in the Konstantin Palace near St.Petersburg.
