Appointments and Honors
July 2026
THE FOLLOWING HAVE ACCEPTED AN APPOINTMENT IN HEIDELBERG
Dr. Johannes Gessner, Toulouse School of Economics, to the W1 junior professorship of “Economics, with a Focus on Environmental and Resource Economics” (Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences)
Dr. Joseph-Simon Görlach, Bocconi University, Milan, to the W3 professorship of “Labor Economics / New Political Economy” (Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences)
Prof. Dr. Claudio Llosa Isenrich, University of Luxembourg, to the W3 professorship of „Pure Mathematics“ (Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science)
Prof. Dr. Phan Thành Nam, LMU Munich, to the W3 professorship of “Mathematical Physics” (Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science)
Alexander von Humboldt FOUNDATION PrIZE WINNERS / RESEARCH fellows at heidelberg university
Prof. Dr. Nathan Youngblood (Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas), University of Pittsburgh (USA)
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award
Host: Prof. Dr. Wolfram Pernice, Heidelberg University, Kirchhoff Institute for Physics
HONORS – Awards – APPOINTMENTS
German Study Award
Heidelberg physicist Dr. Thomas Arne Hensel is being honored with the German Thesis Award by the Körber Foundation for his dissertation on the development of an optical process that makes protein dynamics in cells visible. He conducted the research for his doctoral thesis at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Natural Sciences and Heidelberg University, which awarded the PhD. Thomas Arne Hensel is receiving the first prize, worth 25,000 euros, in the natural and technical sciences section. In the final round of the competition, a panel listened to 30 finalists in three categories presenting their research studies. Thomas Arne Hensel is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Natural Sciences (MPI-NAT) in Göttingen. After studying physics at the University of Hannover, he completed a master’s in physics there in 2020 and a master’s in philosophy of science a year later. As a doctoral candidate, he transferred to Heidelberg University in 2022, joining the Heidelberg Graduate School for Physics. A considerable portion of his research was conducted in the Department of BioNanophotonics at MPI-NAT, headed by Prof. Dr. Stefan Hell, and at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg. The German Thesis Award is presented annually to doctoral graduates who have explored societally relevant topics in their dissertation. In each of the three sections − social sciences, natural and technical sciences, and humanities and cultural studies − the Körber Foundation awards a first prize of 25,000 euros, as well as two second prizes worth 10,000 euros each. The awards will be presented in Berlin in December. The winners for 2026 were announced on 23 July 2026.
Federal Cross of Merit
In recognition of his outstanding services to science in Germany, Prof. Dr. Matthias Hentze has been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. With its orders of merit, the Federal Republic of Germany acknowledges extraordinary commitment to the common good. Matthias Hentze is the director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and professor of molecular medicine at Heidelberg University. He studied medicine at the University of Münster and the medical schools in Southampton, Glasgow, Oxford and Cambridge. After earning his doctorate in Münster and a research period at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda (USA), he obtained his habilitation to teach medical molecular biology at Heidelberg University in 1990. In 2005 he was appointed adjunct professor (apl. Prof.) at Heidelberg University. Having conducted research at EMBL from 1989, Matthias Hentze has been its director since 2013. Together with Prof. Dr. Andreas Kulozik, medical director of the Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, Immunology and Pneumology at Heidelberg University Hospital, he founded the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU) in 2002, a cooperation between EMBL and the two Medical Faculties of Heidelberg University. Matthias Hentze has been honored with multiple awards for his scientific achievements – inter alia with the Otto Warburg Medal (2025), the Lautenschläger Research Prize of Heidelberg University (2007) and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (2000), the most prestigious research award in Germany. The Federal Cross of Merit is the highest award granted by the Federal Republic of Germany for services to the common good. It is awarded on behalf of the Federal President. Matthias Hentze received the honor from Heidelberg’s Lord Mayor Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner at a ceremony in Heidelberg on 2 July 2026.
Senate of the German Research Foundation
Biologist Prof. Dr. Karin Schumacher has been elected to the Senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG). There the scientist from the Centre for Organismal Studies of Heidelberg University will represent plant sciences. Sinologist Prof. Dr. Barbara Mittler from Heidelberg University’s Centre for East Asian Studies will belong to the DFG Senate for a second term – responsible for the area of Non-European Cultures. Karin Schumacher is professor of developmental plant biology at the Centre for Organismal Studies. Barbara Mittler teaches and does research as professor of sinology at the Centre of East Asian Studies. A total of four Senate members were re-elected at the DFG annual general meeting that took place in Bonn at the beginning of July 2026; it also elected eight new members. The Senate is the central scientific body conferring and deciding on all matters of major significance to the DFG. The DFG Senate consists of 39 academic members, 36 of them being elected by the general assembly. The terms of the new and re-elected Senate members last three years. They start on 1 January 2027.
