The Dr H.P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics has been awarded every two years since 1964 and is the most valuable Dutch prize for scientific research. Many leading scientists, including a number of future Nobel laureates (Christian de Duve, Sir Aaron Klug, Thomas R. Cech, Sir Paul M. Nurse, James E. Rothman, Roger Y. Tsien, Andrew Z. Fire and Jack W. Szostak) have been awarded the prize by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in recognition of their pioneering work.