The Lower Saxony State Prize has been awarded by the State of Lower Saxony since 2002. From 1978 to 1999 it was called the Lower Saxony Prize. The award is presented by the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. The prize has been awarded to personalities who have made outstanding services to the state through their outstanding work in the fields of culture, women, social affairs, science, the environment or the economy. The award is endowed with €35,000 and can be shared. The award winners are selected by a voluntary jury consisting of up to ten people from Lower Saxony.

Manfred Eigen was a German biophysical chemist who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on measuring fast chemical reactions.