Since 1995 the Eppendorf Young Investigator Award is granted annually to European researchers not older than 35 years. It acknowledges outstanding contributions to biomedical research in Europe based on methods of molecular biology, including novel analytical concepts. The winner is selected by an independent expert committee chaired by Reinhard Jahn (Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany).

This prize, which reflects the past and future of Eppendorf in a manner befitting the wishes of the company's founders, Dr. Heinrich Netheler and Dr. Hans Hinz, is intended to symbolize the close links between the company and the field of biomedicine.

The award was first established in 1995 on occasion of Eppendorf’s 50th anniversary.

The Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators is presented in partnership with the scientific journal Nature.

Prize awareness poster

• Download the poster "Call for Entries!" for the current period as of 1st September of each year.
  

Prize money € 20,000

The Award winner will receive

• a prize money of 20,000 Euro (for personal use)
• an invitation to the prize ceremony at the EMBL Advanced Training Centre in Heidelberg, Germany
• an invitation to visit Eppendorf AG in Hamburg, Germany
• coverage of his/her work by Nature in print and online (including a podcast)

Contact information

For questions regarding the Award, please send an email to: award@eppendorf.de

Nature journal

The Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators is presented in partnership with the scientific journal Nature. Click here to visit

Who can apply for the award?

Young researchers not older than 35 years with an advanced degree who are performing biomedical research in Europe based on methods of molecular biology, including novel analytical concepts.

How to apply

Online applications for the Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators are accepted from October 1 of each year onwards.

Your application must include: 

• your personal data
• your curriculum vitae
• a title describing the subject of your research
• an essay of max. 2000 characters (incl. spaces) summarizing your research
• your publication list
• PDF files of your published papers (min. 3 - max 5)

Your application and all submitted documents must be in English.

Judging procedures

Eppendorf has no influence on deciding who receives the award.

The prize is awarded by an independent committee composed of five renowned experts under the chairmanship of Prof. Reinhard Jahn (Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany), from the fields of:

• Cellular Neurobiology (Prof. Reinhard Jahn: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany)
• Applied Medical Research (Prof. Dieter Häussinger: Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectiology, Düsseldorf, Germany)
• Genetics and Cell Biology (Prof. Maria Leptin: Director EMBO, Heidelberg, Germany)
• Protein Biochemistry (Prof. Martin J. Lohse: Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany)
• Cell Biology (Prof. Laura Machesky: Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Glasgow, UK)

The papers submitted will be evaluated with respect to the following five selection criteria:

1. Independent scientific work
2. Creativity (independent of instructions from head of institute)
3. Successful practical application of research approach
4. Significance of research results for the field of medicine
5. Achievement of candidate in relation to his/her age

The main focus is on investigating the molecular biological mechanisms of the human organism and then translating this research into practical findings. The long-term goal is the diagnosis and therapy of those diseases which have yet to be treated successfully.

coming soon

2018 Award Winner: Prof. Andrea Ablasser 

Appointment at time of winning the Award:
Assistant Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland

Andrea Ablasser, born 1983, receives the € 20,000 prize for her contributions to a key step in the innate immune response, which triggers a frontline defense when cells are attacked by microorganisms. 

The Jury:  “Andrea Ablasser’s work sheds light on the mechanisms by which other cells are informed about the presence of foreign DNA, and she has recently shown that the same pathway can be triggered in ageing cells, contributing to senescence. This work may lead to novel therapeutic approaches for both microbial infections and autoinflammatory syndromes.”

The official prize ceremony took place at the EMBL Advanced Training Centre in Heidelberg, Germany, on June 21, 2018. The laudatio honoring Andrea Ablasser’s achievements was held by Award Jury Chairman Prof. Reinhard Jahn of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen.

Media

• Press release: 22.6.2018 - 2018 Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators presented to Andrea Ablasser
• Speech: 21.6.2018 – Laudation for Andrea Ablasser by Prof. Reinhard Jahn
• Flyer about Andrea Ablasser’s work 
• Press photo - Presentation  of Eppendorf Young Investigator Award 2018 in Heidelberg

• 2017 Award Winner
  Tom Baden, PD PhD
  Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience at the School of Life Sciences, University of Sussey, Brighton, United Kingdom
• 2016 Award Winner
  Prof. Adrian Liston
  Group leader at VIB Translational Immunology Lab, University of Leuven, Belgium
• 2015 Award Winner
  Dr. Thomas Wollert
  Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany
• 2014 Award Winner
  Madeline Lancaster
  Marie Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Laboratory of Juergen Knoblich, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Vienna, Austria
• 2013 Award Winner
  Benjamin Lehner
  EMBL-CRG Systems Biology Unit Centre for Genomic Regulation Barcelona, Spain
• 2012 Award Winner
  Dr. Elizabeth Murchison
  Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom
• 2011 Award Winner
  Assistant Professor Suzan Rooijakkers, PhD
  University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Medical Microbiology, Utrecht, The Netherlands
• 2009 Award Winner
  Dr. Óscar Fernández-Capetillo
  Head, Genomic Instability Group, Spanish National Cancer Center (CNIO), Madrid, Spain.
• 2008 Award Winner
  Dr. Simon Boulton
  Cancer Research UK, London Research Institute, UK
• 2007 Award Winner
  Dr. Mónica Bettencourt-Dias
  Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal
• 2006 Award Winner
  Dr. Luca Scorrano
  Dulbecco-Telethon Institute, Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Padova, Italy
• 2005 Award Winner
  Dr. Thomas Helleday
  Arrhenius Laboratory Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology, Stockholm University
• 2004 Award Winner
  Prof. Dr. Patrick Cramer
  Gene Center, University of Munich, Germany
• 2003 Award Winner
  Prof. Dr. Silvia Arber
  Biozentrum, University of Basel, Friedrich-Miescher-Institute Basel, Switzerland
• 2002 Award Winner
  Dr. Thomas Tuschl
  Göttingen, Germany
• 2001 Award Winner
  Dr. Andreas Mayer
  Friedrich-Miescher Laboratory of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Tübingen, Germany
• 2000 Award Winner
  Dr. Dario Alessi
  MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, University of Dundee, Scotland
• 1999 Award Winner
  Dr. Jean Pieters
  Basel Institute for Immunology, Switzerland
• 1998 Award Winner
  Professor Dr. Michael Wegner
  Center of Molecular Neurobiology, University Hospital (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
• 1997 Award Winner
  Professor Dr. Helena Edlund
  Department of Microbiology, University of Umea, Sweden
• 1996 Award Winner
  Professor Dr. Ueli Suter
  Institute of Cell Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zürich
• 1995 Award Winner
  Professor Dr. Stephan P. Jackson
  Wellcome/CRC Institute, University of Cambridge, England

2017

• Press release: 23.6.2017 - 2017 Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators presented to Tom Baden 
• Speech: 22.6.2017 – Laudation for Tom Baden by Prof. Maria Leptin

2016

• Press release: 2.6.2016 - Presentation of Eppendorf Young Investigator Award 2016 in Heidelberg
• Speech: 2.6.2016 – Laudatio for Adrian Liston by Prof. Reinhard Jahn

2015

• Press release: 25.6.2015 - Presentation of Eppendorf Young Investigator Award 2015 in Heidelberg
  
• Speech: 25.6.2015 – Laudatio for Thomas Wollert by Prof. Reinhard Jahn

2014

• Press release: 22.05.2014 - Presentation of Eppendorf Young Investigator Award 2014 in Heidelberg
• Speech: 22.05.2014 - Laudatio for Madeline Lancaster by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Jahn 

2013

• Press release: 06.06.2013 – Presentation of Eppendorf Young Investigator Award 2013 in Heidelberg
• Speech: 06.06.2012 – Laudatio for Ben Lehner by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Jahn

2012

• Press release: 09.05.2012 – Presentation of Eppendorf Young Investigator Award 2012 in Heidelberg
• Speech:09.05.2012 – Laudatio for Dr. Elizabeth Murchison by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Jahn