The Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Prize was established in 2000, under the sponsorship of Elsevier, by the organizers of the International Conference on the Materials and Mechanisms of Superconductivity (M S). The prize is named in honor of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, who discovered superconductivity in 1911. At each conference, the prize, which consists of 7500 € and a certificate, is presented to one or more physicists. If there are two or more recipients they share the money. The prize "recognizes outstanding experiments which illuminate the nature of superconductivity other than materials". The winners are selected by the members of the Kamerlingh Onnes Prize Committee, appointed by the conference organizers.