King Salman presented awards to the winners of the King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) for 2017 on Tuesday night at a ceremony attended by princes, senior government officials, academics and scientists here at Al-Faisaliyah Hotel.

Launched by the King Faisal Foundation (KFF), the KFIP recognizes the outstanding works of individuals and institutions in five categories: Service to Islam, Islamic studies, Arabic language and literature, medicine and science.

Each category prize consists of a certificate, a commemorative 24-carat gold medal and SR750,000 ($199,987).

The aim is to inspire Muslims to participate in all aspects of human civilization, as well as enrich human knowledge and develop mankind.

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, chairman of the KFIP board, presented King Salman with an award for his service to Islam. The monarch then presented prizes to the winners in other categories.

The prize for Islamic studies went to Ridwan Al-Sayyid, a professor at the University of Lebanon.

The prize for Arabic language and literature went to the Arabic Language Academy of Jordan, for its efforts to transfer science and technology via translation, Arabize technical terms, publish specialized glossaries and make Arabic a language of instruction.

Tadamitsu Kishimoto, professor of immunology at Osaka University, Japan, was given the prize for medicine.

The prize for science was shared by Daniel Loss, professor of physics at Basel University, Switzerland, and Dutch Professor Laurens Molenkamp for their exceptional contributions to physics.