Medals
Carus Medal
This medal has been awarded to scientists since 1896 in recognition of important scientific discoveries or achievements in a field represented by the Leopoldina. The original capital of around €2,000 came from a foundation set up by Academy members, friends and admirers of the 13th Academy President, Carl Gustav Carus, on 2 November 1964 to mark the 50th anniversary of his professorship.
Image: Markus Scholz for the Leopoldina
However, the money was lost in the hyperinflation crisis of the 1920s. In 1937, in a move away from the foundation’s original rules, the Carus Medal was first awarded for important research. Since 1961, the medal has been complemented by the city of Schweinfurt’s Carus Award, which is worth €5,000. Medal winners have included the biochemist and later Nobel laureate Jacques Monod (1965), the biologist and later Nobel laureate Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (1989) and the physicist and later Nobel laureate Stefan W. Hell (2013).
| Year | Laureate | City | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln (born 1972) | Frankfurt (M.) | Quantitative Makroökonomie |
| 2021 | Dominic Bresser (born 1983) | Ulm | Physikochemie |
| 2021 | Tanja Stadler (born 1981) | Zurich | Mathematik |
| 2019 | Carl-Philipp Heisenberg (born 1968) | Klosterneuburg | Entwicklungsbiologie |
| 2019 | Monika Henzinger (born 1966) | Vienna | Informatik |
| 2017 | Elisabeth Binder (born 1971) | Munich | Neurowissenschaften |
| 2017 | Matthias Tschöp (born 1967) | Munich | Medizin |
| 2015 | Emmanuelle Charpentier (born 1968) | Hannover | Biologie |
| 2015 | Hans Jakob Wörner (born 1981) | Zurich | Physikalische Chemie |
| 2013 | Stefan W. Hell (born 1962) | Göttingen | Physik |
| 2013 | Giesela Rühl (born 1974) | Jena | Rechtswissenschaften |
| 2011 | Liqiu Meng (born 1963) | Munich | Geographie |
| 2011 | Moritz Kerz (born 1983) | Duisburg-Essen | Mathematik |
| 2009 | Frédéric Merkt (born 1966) | Zurich | Physikalische Chemie |
| 2009 | Axel Meyer (born 1960) | Konstanz | Evolutionsbiologie |
| 2007 | Josef Penninger (born 1964) | Vienna | Medizin |
| 2007 | Guido Kroemer (born 1961) | Villejuif, Frankreich | Medizin |
| 2005 | Oliver G. Schmidt (born 1971) | Stuttgart | Physik |
| 2005 | Arndt Borkhardt (born 1963) | Munich | Medizin |
| 2003 | Katja Becker-Brandenburg (born 1965) | Giessen | Biochemie |
| 2003 | Ilme Schlichting (born 1960) | Heidelberg | Biochemie |
| 2001 | Martin E. Schwab (born 1949) | Zurich | Neurobiologie |
| 2001 | Jörg Hacker (born 1952) | Würzburg | Mikrobiologie |
| 1999 | Walter Schaffner (born 1944) | Zurich | Molekularbiologie |
| 1999 | Svante Pääbo (born 1955) | Leipzig | Molekulare Archäologie |
| 1997 | Herbert Roesky (born 1935) | Göttingen | Chemie |
| 1997 | Elmar Weiler (born 1949) | Bochum | Pflanzenphysiologie |
| 1995 | Peter Gruss (born 1949) | Göttingen | Zellbiologie |
| 1995 | Jürgen Troe (born 1940) | Göttingen | Physikal. Chemie |
| 1993 | Rudolf K. Thauer (born 1939) | Marburg | Mikrobiolgie/Immunologie |
| 1993 | Rüdiger Wehner (born 1940) | Zurich | Zoologie |
| 1991 | Erwin Neher (born 1944) | Göttingen | Biophysik |
| 1991 | Bert Sakmann (born 1942) | Heidelberg | Zellphysiologie |
| 1991 | Andreas Hense (born 1956) | Bonn | Meteorologie |
| 1989 | Rainer Storb (born 1935) | Seattle | Medizin |
| 1989 | Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (born 1942) | Tübingen | Biologie |
| 1987 | Hannes Lichte (born 1944) | Tübingen | Physik |
| 1987 | Aleksandr F. Andreev (born 1939) | Moskau | Physik |
| 1985 | Nicholas John Shackleton (1937 - 2006) | Cambridge (GB) | Paläozeanographie |
| 1985 | Georges Köhler (1946 - 1995) | Freiburg (Br.) | Allg. Biologie |
| 1983 | Hans G. Gross (born 1936) | Würzburg | Biochemie/Biophysik |
| 1983 | Don Zagier (born 1951) | Bonn u. Maryland | Mathematik |
| 1980 | Klaus Hafner (born 1927) | Darmstadt | Chemie |
| 1980 | Jordan Malinowski (1923 - 1996) | Sofia | Physik |
| 1977 | Hermann Eggerer (1927 - 2006) | Munich | Biochemie/Biophysik |
| 1977 | Ernst Schmutzer (born 1930) | Jena | Physik |
| 1975 | Norbert Hilschmann (1931 - 2012) | Göttingen | Biochemie/Biophysik |
| 1973 | Rudolf Kippenhahn (born 1926) | Göttingen | Astronomie |
| 1973 | Heinz Bethge (1919 - 2001) | Physik | |
| 1971 | Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (1911 - 2000) | Garching | Physik |
| 1969 | Horst Hanson (1911 - 1978) | Physiol. Chemie | |
| 1969 | Günter Bruns (1914 - 2003) | Jena | Pathologie |
| 1967 | Manfred Eigen (born 1927) | Göttingen | Physikal. Chemie |
| 1965 | Otto Westphal (1913 - 2004) | Freiburg (Br.) | Physiologische Chemie |
| 1965 | Jacques Monod (1910 - 1976) | Paris | Physiologische Chemie |
| 1963 | Hansjochem Autrum (1907 - 2003) | Munich | Zoologie |
| 1961 | Feodor Lynen (1911 - 1979) | Munich | Physiologische Chemie |
| 1957 | Werner Schäfer (1912 - 2000) | Tübingen | Allg. Biologie |
| 1957 | Herwig Schopper (born 1924) | Mainz | Physik |
| 1957 | Gerhard Schramm (1910 - 1969) | Tübingen | Allg. Biologie |
| 1955 | Hans Hermann Weber (1896 - 1974) | Heidelberg | Physiologie |
| 1944 | Hermann von Wissmann (1895 - 1979) | Tübingen | Geographie |
| 1943 | Adolf Butenandt (1903 - 1995) | Munich | Physiologische Chemie |
| 1942 | Alwin Mittasch (1869 - 1953) | Heidelberg | Chemie |
| 1940 | Paul Buchner (1886 - 1978) | Porto d'Ischia | Zoologie |
| 1939 | Otto Grosser (1873 - 1951) | Prag | Anatomie |
| 1938 | Wilhelm Filchner (1877 - 1975) | Berlin | Geographie |
| 1938 | Carl Troll (1899 - 1957) | Bonn | Geographie |
