Awards and Honours
ZukunftsWissen – the Early Career Award from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Commerzbank Foundation
Starting in 2024, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Commerzbank Foundation will annually honour outstanding young scientists with their new “ZukunftsWissen – the Early Career Award from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Commerzbank Foundation.” The award is endowed with € 50,000. It replaces the “Early Career Award”, held every other year between 2010 and 2022 and traditionally presented during the Leopoldina Annual Assembly. The Early Career Award was endowed with €30,000, also provided by the Commerzbank Foundation.
The new award, “ZukunftsWissen”, honours scientists for outstanding achievements in a research field related to the theme of the respective Leopoldina Annual Assembly and, at the same time, addressing challenges of the future in their research. The theme reference is broadly defined and may be drawn from any of the disciplines represented at the Leopoldina. Particularly welcome is interdisciplinary research. The prize is awarded during the Annual Assembly and is associated with a public lecture by the prizewinner. Eligible nominees must have completed their doctorate at most ten years ago.
Leopoldina Early Career Award
Between 2010 and 2022, the Leopoldina Early Career Award of the Commerzbank Foundation was presented every other year. It was awarded to young scientists for outstanding achievements in a field related to the respective Leopoldina Annual Assembly theme and was endowed with €30,000.
| Year | Laureate | City | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Francesca Santoro (born 1983) | Aachen | Bioelektronik |
| 2020 | Patrick Weigelt (born 1983) | Göttingen | Biologie |
| 2018 | Xiaoxiang Zhu (born 1984) | Munich | Ingenieurwissenschaften |
| 2016 | Lena Henningsen (born 1978) | Freiburg (Br.) | Sinologie |
| 2014 | Carsten Grashoff (born 1977) | Martinsried | Biochemie |
| 2012 | Thomas Mölg (born 1977) | Berlin | Geowissenschaften |
| 2010 | Christian Kubisch (born 1967) | Ulm | Humangenetik |
Leopoldina-Forschungspreis
Between 2001 and 2007, this award was presented to young scientists. It was valued at €15,000. The prize money could be spent to foster scientific research at the discretion of the laureates.
| Year | Laureate | City | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Nikolaus Pfanner (born 1956) | Freiburg | Humanmedizin |
| 2005 | Bernd Bukau (born 1954) | Heidelberg | Biochemie/Biophysik |
| 2003 | Heike L. Pahl (born 1966) | Molekularbiologie/Genetik | |
| 2001 | Adriano Aguzzi (born 1960) | Zurich | Pathologie und Rechtsmedizin |
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