Origin of the foundation
When Professor André Simonart was conferred his emeritus title in 1969, his colleagues and friends organised a subscription in order to give him a gift.
Clinical pharmacology was only in its early stages at the time, and Professor André Simonart decided to use all of the donations he received to create a foundation which, through the regular awarding of a prize, aims to promote research conducted in the field of pharmacology at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and the Katolieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), the universities where he had been a professor of medicine.
The Foundation was created by notarised deed on 15th May 1970 (Moniteur belge 18th February 1971) and recognised as a Public Utility Foundation by the Royal Decree of 8th December 1970 (Moniteur belge 19th December 1970).
Purpose
To encourage research in clinical pharmacology among the present and former students of the Université Catholique de Louvain and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, under 40 years of age, through the granting of a substantial prize every 3 years.
Pursuant to its statutes, the purpose of the Baron Simonart Foundation is “to manage and yield a profit from the total amount of subscriptions paid to the founder when he was conferred the title of emeritus professor and, using these funds, to constitute prizes and award them to researchers whose work is likely to advance clinical pharmacology.”