With the launch of the new framework programme, it has been decided to give separate identities to the prizes that are awarded in the areas of excellence in collaborative research and excellence in science communication. Both prizes will continue and will now be awarded at a new event: the European Science Awards. The Descartes prize for excellence in transnational, collaborative research will continue as before, but the Descartes label has been removed from the designation of the prize for excellence in science communication to avoid confusion between these distinct yet complementary activities. Due to this change, some reconstruction of the information on these pages is currently underway - we hope to have full rebranding completed shortly. In the meantime, we apologise for any inconvenience caused.