Four scholars have been selected as winners for the 56th the National Academy of Sciences Award, the national research institution announced on Friday.

Oh Saeng-keun, professor of French literature at Seoul National University has been selected for the humanities section of the award. For its natural sciences section, Suh Se-won, professor of chemistry at SNU will receive the honor.

Two scholars have been selected for the award’s applied sciences section: Prof. Lee Kil-seong at SNU’s Computational Hydraulics and Water Resources Systems Lab, and professor Song Jin-won at Department of Microbiology at Korea University’s college of medicine.

Established in 1955, the awards go to Korean scholars who have made significant academic contributions in humanities, the social sciences and natural and applied sciences. So far, a total of 212 scholars have received the honor.

The awards ceremony will be held at the National Academy of Sciences on Sept 16. The four scholars will be each awarded with 50 million won ($47,000) in prize money.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)