Since 2006, the award is presented each November to individuals whose outstanding creative activity is founded on the same values as those of the university and its eponym. Previous Moholy-Nagy laureates include world-famous Hungarian-born designer Stefan Lengyel, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube Ernő Rubik, one of the greatest product designers of our age Dieter Rahms, who became known worldwide as Braun’s lead designer, art historian KrisztinaPassuth, and network researcher Albert-László Barabási. In 2021, the Moholy-Nagy Award was given to architect Zsófia Csomay and, posthumously, to architect Péter Reimholz, founders of the CET Budapest architect office and teachers of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design.  

For the 15th award ceremony, a new trophy was designed in 2021 by Noémi Ferenczy Award-winning jeweller and teacher of MOME’s Design Institute Krisztián Ádám. In harmony with the growth and development of the university, it is intended to serve both as a material manifestation of Moholy-Nagy’s philosophy and a representation of the constant change we are experiencing. The values condensed into the trophy include transparency, empathy, aesthetics, interdisciplinarity and innovation. The glass lens of the trophy symbolises the changing perspective that looking at a situation from different angles can yield. Experiencing diverse perspectives and crossing the lines between various scientific fields are key to finding answers to the challenges of our time. 

Previous laureates: 

2006 | Hattula Moholy-Nagy 
2007 | István Gergely 
2007 | Stefan Lengyel  
2008 | Ernő Rubik  
2009 | Hannes Böhringer 
2010 | Imre Földes 
2011 | Tibor Kálmán 
2012 | Dieter Rams  
2013 | László Gőz  
2014 | Balázs Kovalik  
2015 | Pál Frenák  
2016 | Ádám Nádasdy 
2017 | Krisztina Passuth 
2018 | Albert-László Barabási 
2019 | Karole Vail 
2021 | Zsófia Csomay and (posthumously) Péter Reimholz