Quelle est lʼorigine de lʼinégalité parmi les hommes et si elle est autorisée par la loi naturelle? (What is the origin of inequality among men and is it justified by natural law?) French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau's detailed answer to this prize question from the Academy of Dijon (1754) made him famous overnight, even though his radical critique of civilisation did not meet with the approval of the judges. This also brought into sharper focus a scientific format that – starting with the first prize question of the Academie française (1671) – almost all European academies, in some cases also so-called economic societies and even individuals of higher rank, had included in their programmes in the course of the 18th century.
From the point of view of contemporaries, the main focus back then was the challenge of solving a difficult task in a specific scientific subject, with the prize having the motivational and, as it were, educational function of encouraging as many participants as possible to apply. The prize money itself was merely symbolic compared to the then rare opportunity to go public with a publication.
The heyday of prize questions can be traced back to the 18th and early 19th centuries: between 1745 and 1900. The Berlin Academy announced a total of 178 prize questions, to which around 700 answers, so-called prize publications, were submitted, not including the prize-winning printed works. In the context of an increasingly professionalised scientific community, the prize question thus became an important instrument and medium of participatory science communication. Taking into account the changing scientific landscape, a gradual shift from the originally dominant rhetorical and poetic prize questions to economic, natural history and technological questions can be observed. The interested public was informed about the calls for prize questions and the answers through reports in so-called scholarly journals.
However, the method of submitting answers to questions which was common in the 18th century cannot be compared with the practice that has been revived today, since in those days the papers were submitted anonymously and their authorship was only revealed if the first prize or an award was granted. While academic prize questions have increasingly found themselves on the defensive, not least in view of the emergence of institutionalised science prizes awarded by academic institutions, the Austrian Academy of Sciences has set itself the goal of reviving this traditional format with highly topical questions since 2018.
With this competition, the Academy wants to take up the idea behind the "Republic of Letters" in the 18th century. The res publica literaria encompassed all scholarly publishers and aimed to promote academic discourse beyond the boundaries of institutions, regardless of class or nationality. In the spirit of responsible research, which is a topic of discussion throughout Europe today, the prize is intended to provide new impetus for a better exchange between science and society. At the same time, the OeAW hopes to increase public interest in science.