Prizes and Awards

Each year, our scientists are honored with a number of prestigious prizes, awards, and medals for their achievements in a variety of scientific disciplines. See a selection here.

Prizes and Awards

  • Helmholtz Munich

    Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla Honored With the Maximiliansorden

    Prof. Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla, this year’s Leibniz Prize winner, has received the Bavarian Maximiliansorden for Science and Art. Minister-President Dr. Markus Söder presented the distinguished state honor to her at the State Chancellery, recognizing her pioneering research in stem cell biology and epigenetics.
  • German Cancer Research Center

    Lautenschläger Prize for Young Scientists 2025 awarded to Lukas Bunse

    As a clinician scientist at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Mannheim Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, neurologist Lukas Bunse is investigating how the body's own immune system can be supported in fighting brain tumors. For this work, he has been awarded the Lautenschläger Prize for Young Scientists, which is endowed with €25,000.
  • German Cancer Research Center

    Shield against metastases and genetically protected CAR-T cells: Double honor for Mirco Julian Friedrich

    Physician and cancer researcher Mirco Julian Friedrich from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the stem cell research institute HI-STEM*, and Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) has received two awards for two independent research projects: The Beug Foundation has honored his novel approach to preventing liver metastases with the Metastasis Prize 2025. The Kind-Philipp…
  • GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung

    Christoph-Schmelzer Award presented to two young researchers

    Two young researchers have been awarded this year’s Christoph Schmelzer Prize: Dr. Cristina Totis from the Technical University of Darmstadt and Dr. Stefanie Bertschi from the Technical University of Dresden were honored for their outstanding doctoral theses. The award, presented annually by the Association for the Promotion of Tumor Therapy with Heavy Ions, recognizes…
  • Forschungszentrum Jülich

    Dr. Anja Meier Receives the Excellence Prize for Advancing a Method Analysing Molecules

    Forschungszentrum Jülich has awarded Dr Anja Meier its Excellence Prize. As part of her doctoral thesis, the chemist made a significant contribution to advancing photoemission orbital tomography (POT). This technology now allows the chemical properties of molecules to be analysed in much greater detail and is also more versatile than before.
  • Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

    Mannich Medal for Rolf Müller

    Rolf Müller's research focuses on discovering and developing innovative active substances to combat antimicrobial resistance, which is one of the greatest challenges facing modern medicine. He and his team use natural products from soil bacteria, particularly the unusual myxobacteria, as the basis for developing such molecules. Over the course of his career, Müller has…

As curious as we are? Discover more.