A rain of awards for scientists in "The Länd"

International research stars from the German Southwest excel in prestigious national science awards in 2022.

Most recipients of Germany’s most prestigious research funding prize, the „Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2022“, are from Baden-Württemberg. Four out of ten Leibniz Prizes went to scientists from the Universities of Karlsruhe, Konstanz, Heidelberg and Tübingen. With respect to Germany’s most valuable research award, the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, „The Länd" was also very successful: Germany’s third largest state won every fourth Humboldt Professorship from 2020-2022.

About the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and its winners from Baden-Württemberg in 2022:

The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation (DFG) aims to improve the working conditions of outstanding researchers and help them employ particularly qualified early career researchers. A maximum of €2.5 million is provided per award. The awardees are entitled to use these funds for their research work in any way they wish, without bureaucratic obstacles, for up to seven years.

Of the 134 nominees, there were ten prize winners and four are from the German Southwest:

• Professor Dr. Almut Arneth, Ecosystem Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe
• Professor Dr. Iain Couzin, Behavioural Biology, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, University of Konstanz, Konstanz
• Dr. Eileen Furlong, Functional Genome Biology, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg
• Professor Dr. Mischa Meier, Ancient History, University of Tübingen, Tübingen

About the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship  and its winners from Baden-Württemberg for the years 2020-2022:

Combining excellence and internationality, the Alexander von Humboldt Professorships are awarded every year to eminent researchers of all disciplines who have been working abroad to date. Alexander von Humboldt Professorships each come with up to €5 million in funding. In addition to the candidates’ outstanding scientific and academic qualifications, a deciding factor in the selection process are the concepts developed by the universities that will offer the researchers and their teams long-term career prospects in Germany.

Awarded with five out of 21 Professorships, "The Länd" defends its excellent position as a location where top research can thrive:

• Markus Klute, Elementary Particle Physics (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), previously: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA)
• Francisco Moreno-Fernández, Linguistics (Heidelberg University, previously: Harvard University, USA)
• Kou Murayama, Psychology (University of Tübingen, previously: University of Reading, UK)
• Joacim Rocklöv, Epidemiology and Public Health (Heidelberg University, previously: Umeå University, SWE)

Alexander von Humboldt Professorships for Artificial Intelligence (awarded for the first time): 

• Peter Dayan, Theoretical Neuroscience, AI (University of Tübingen and Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, previously: University College London, UK)

Are you an international researcher looking for perfect conditions to bring your work and career to the next level? Check our open positions and apply now.

Author: Leonie Rörich