academy award

The Academy Prize is an award Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1984 Academy of Sciences and Humanities the Association for the Promotion of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (external link) to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities .

This Prize awarded annually, alternating between the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Class and the Philosophy and History Class:

For the year 2027 (nominations in 2026), the Prize will be announced Prize the Philosophy and History Class.

The Prize worth €10,000.

Who can be nominated?

The Prize awarded for scholarly works that have been published by young researchers in Germany or that have been completed and are ready for publication. The work must have been completed no more than three years prior to the start of the year in which the award ceremony takes place; nominees must not have reached the age of 40 by that time. In special cases requiring justification, exceptions may be made to these restrictions. The Prize be shared if multiple authors contributed to the work; however, it may not be divided among several independent works.

Who is allowed to make suggestions?
  • the full members of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
  • the heads of academic departments at universities in Baden-Württemberg (rectors, deans, executive directors, and department heads)
  • the directors of non-university research institutes in Baden-Württemberg (executive directors)
  • Unsolicited applications are not accepted.

Do you have any questions?

You can reach us by phone at 06221 54-3265 or by email at hadw[at]hadw.de.

If you wish to send the documents by mail, please send them to:

Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Executive Secretariat
Karlstraße 4
69117 Heidelberg

Nomination deadline:

Every year from March 1 to June 30

What needs to be submitted?

  • Cover page

  • Justification of the proposal, maximum two pages
  • resume
  • list of publications
  • award-worthy work
  • If the award is granted by the Department of Philosophy and History, please also submit both doctoral and postdoctoral evaluation reports.

The documents should be submitted as a single PDF file and sent to hadw[at]hadw.de.

When will the decision be made?

The Academy will announce its decision at the beginning of the year. The winner and their mentor will be notified of the result in writing.

The Friends of the Academy(external link) provides both moral and financial support to the State Academy of Sciences of Baden-Württemberg. The members of the Friends of the Academy believe it is important that science be able to flourish and innovate freely within the Academy, that young scientists in particular receive targeted career support, and that dialogue between the scientific community and the public be strengthened. The Academy Prize, established in 1984, is intended to contribute to these goals.

The Friends Association also supports the Academy’s research projects around the world through grants and funds symposia, conferences, and events. In particular, it supports conferences on socially relevant issues organized by young researchers at the Academy.

To date, the Academy Award has been presented to many young researchers from all fields. Many of them now hold professorships at universities.

All past recipients since 1985:

yearNameTitle
2025Barbehön, MarlonSigns of the times: Outlines of a political theory of temporality
2024Schlaich, AlexanderField of work: Computer simulation. Wetting transition at the nanoscale for materials with different insulating or metallic properties.
2023Hübner, LeonhardCorporate liability for human rights violations
2022Lightfoot, JamesSmall peptide-mediated self-recognition prevents cannibalism in predatory nematodes
2021Wang, LianmingJesuit heritage in Beijing: sacred buildings and transcultural spaces 1600–1800
2020Kruijssen, J. M. DiederikStar and star cluster formation
2019Epstein, KatharinaAristotle Historia animalium Book V. Translated, introduced, and annotated.
2018Stadler, PascalQuantum transport in quantum dots with spin effects, electron vibration interaction, and superconductivity
2017Nagel, SvenjaThe spread of the cult of Isis in the Roman Empire: tradition and transformation on the way from Egypt to Rome
2016Giese, EnnoMechanisms for matter-wave diffraction and their application to interferometers
2015Altehenger, Jennifer ElisabethLove, Law, and Legality: Marriage Law Campaigning in the Early People's Republic of China
2014Le Tacon, MatthieuLight scattering experiments Correlation effects in complex materials
2013Bernhardt, Johannes ChristianThe Jewish Revolution
2012Berkel, SimoneIdentification and functional analysis of SHANK2 mutations in mental retardation and autism spectrum disorders
2011Martin, ChristianOntology of Self-Determination. An Operational Reconstruction of Hegel's Science of Logic
2010Wimberger, Sandro MarcelTransport of ultracold quantum gases
2009Hannemann, Dennis MichaelClassical Antiquity and the Construction of American Identity: Studies of Speeches from the Revolutionary Era and the Early Republic, 1770–1815
2008Axel GriesmaierFirst-ever Bose-Einstein condensation of chromium atoms (BCE) and investigation of novel dipolar interactions in quantum gases
2007Hindrichs, GunnarThe Absolute and the Subject: Studies on the Relationship Between Metaphysics and Post-Metaphysics
2006Lein, ManfredAttosecond dynamics in molecules
2005Niesner, ManuelaThose Who Wish to Debate with the Jews. 14th-Century German-Language Literature Opposed to the Jews.
2004Christian PfleidererResearch on quantum phase transitions
2003Emich, BirgitTerritorial Integration in the Early Modern Period—Ferrara and the Papal States
2002Simons, MikaelAssembly of Myelin through the Association of Proteolipid Protein with Cholesterol- and Galactosylceramide-Rich Membrane Domains
1999Pusch, Claus DieterPreverbal Markers in Spoken Gaskognic. On the Distribution, Origin, and Pragmatics of the Enunciative. With a Corpus of Spoken Texts Between Conceptual Proximity and Distance
1997Guhr, ThomasSupersymmetric matrix models and quantum chaos
1997Haass, ChristianResearch on the polarized transport of the amyloid precursor protein in Alzheimer's disease and on the mechanism of amyloid protein release
1994Krause, Jens-UweWidows and Orphans in the Roman Empire (200 B.C. to A.D. 600)
1992Franke, JensHarmonic Analysis in Weighted L2 Spaces
1989Rhein, StefanPhilology and Poetry. Melanchthon’s Greek Poems (Edition, Translation, and Commentary)
1987Mundt, ReinhardThe Jets of Young Stars
1985Stärk, EkkehardHermann Nitsch’s “Orgy-Mystery-Theater” and the Hysteria of the Greeks: Sources and Traditions in the Viennese Representation of Antiquity Since 1900