Appointments and Honors
June 2026
THE FOLLOWING HAVE ACCEPTED AN APPOINTMENT IN HEIDELBERG
Dr Piotr Gasik, TU Darmstadt, to the W3 professorship of “Experimental Physics with a Focus on Heavy-Ion Physics” (Faculty of Physics and Astronomy)
THE FOLLOWING HAVE DECLINED AN APPOINTMENT ELSEWHERE
Prof. Dr Michela Mapelli, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, to a professorship at the University of Padua
THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN APPOINTED HONORARY PROFESSOR
Dr Florian Kienle, Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Karlsruhe (Faculty of Law)
Dr Ingo Runde, Heidelberg University Archives (Faculty of Philosophy)
THE TITLE OF “ADJUNCT PROFESSOR” HAS BEEN AWARDED TO (FOR THE DURATION OF THEIR TEACHING AUTHORIZATION)
Priv.-Doz. Dr Stefan Fritze (Medical Faculty Mannheim)
Priv.-Doz. Dr Britta Grüne (Medical Faculty Mannheim)
Priv.-Doz. Dr Verena Haselmann (Medical Faculty Mannheim)
Priv.-Doz. Dr Michael Hirth (Medical Faculty Mannheim)
Priv.-Doz. Dr Daniel Schwarz (Medical Faculty Heidelberg)
Priv.-Doz. Dr Frederik Wessels (Medical Faculty Mannheim)
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT FOUNDATION PRIZE WINNERS / RESEARCH FELLOWS AT HEIDELBERG UNIVERSITY
Dr Fan Si (Nuclear Physics), Heidelberg University
Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers
Host: Prof. Dr Johanna Stachel, Heidelberg University, Institute for Physics
HONORS – AWARDS – APPOINTMENTS
Karl Jaspers Prize
Her outstanding philosophical work and her impact on the public have earned Prof. Dr Seyla Benhabib the Karl Jaspers Prize for 2026. Heidelberg University grants the prize worth 25,000 euros jointly with the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the City of Heidelberg. Prof. Benhabib’s work focuses on the question of how general ideas of justice, rights and democracy can be connected with the reality of life. Here she takes particular account of cultural differences, gender experiences and global migration. Furthermore, she is considered a proven expert on the German philosophy of the 20th century and regularly raises a critical voice in public debates. Seyla Benhabib teaches at Yale University (USA) as professor emeritus. Seyla Benhabib studied philosophy in Istanbul (Turkey) and at Brandeis University in Waltham (USA). She obtained her doctorate in 1977 at Yale University with a thesis on Hegel’s philosophy of right. She then accepted professorial posts at various universities in the United States, including Yale, Boston and Harvard, as well as State University of New York. In 2001 she was appointed to the Eugene Meyer Professorship for Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University. Prof. Benhabib has been a visiting scholar at many international institutions, including at the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. The Karl Jaspers Prize commemorates a “scholar whose lifetime achievement in psychopathology, philosophy and world philosophy has found international recognition”. Furthermore, the donors wish to pay grateful tribute to Jaspers’ “struggle to combat the evil spirit of an age”. The prize named after Karl Jaspers has been awarded thirteen times so far. The award ceremony is to take place on 29 April 2027; the award was announced on 9 June 2026.
German Cancer Award
For their outstanding contributions to patient-oriented cancer research, Prof. Dr Jessica Hassel and Prof. Dr Dr Felix Sahm, both researchers at the Medical Faculty Heidelberg of Heidelberg University, have been awarded the German Cancer Award. Dermatologist Jessica Hassel is this year’s recipient in the “Clinical Research” category. In the “Translational Research” category, the award went to neuropathologist Felix Sahm. The prize, which is presented in four categories, is awarded by the German Cancer Society and the German Cancer Foundation and is one of the highest distinctions in the field of oncology. A key area of Prof. Hassel’s research is the development of innovative immunotherapeutic approaches to treating advanced skin cancer. Prof. Hassel heads the Skin Tumor Center and the Dermatooncology Section of the Dermatology Department at Heidelberg University Hospital and the National Center for Tumor Diseases Heidelberg. Prof. Sahm’s research focuses on tumors of the meninges and is set to receive the award for his groundbreaking contributions to the molecular diagnosis of these so-called meningiomas. He shares the award with Prof. Dr. David Capper of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Prof. Sahm also does research at the German Cancer Research Center and is Medical Director of the Department of Neuropathology at Heidelberg University Hospital. Each year, the German Cancer Society and the German Cancer Foundation use the German Cancer Award to recognize outstanding work in oncology across the German-speaking world. In addition to “Clinical Research” and “Translational Research”, the prize is presented in the categories “Experimental Research” and “Health Services Research”. They are endowed with 7,500 euros each. The ceremony for the current awards took place on 19 June 2026 in Berlin.
Otto Schmeil Prize, Manfred Fuchs Prize, and Manfred Lautenschläger Prize
A life scientist and two historians at Ruperto Carola have been honored by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities for outstanding academic achievements. The Otto Schmeil Prize to fund early-career researchers in biological and medical research, worth 15,000 euros, has gone to Dr Franziska Hentzschel. The life scientist investigates ways of preventing the increase of the malaria parasite. Franziska Hentzschel is a researcher at the Medical Faculty Heidelberg of Heidelberg University and heads a lab in the Parasitology Research Unit of the Center for Integrative Infectious Disease Research at Heidelberg University Hospital. PD Dr Christian A. Neumann has been honored for his habilitation thesis on “Alte Herrscher des Mittelalters: Könige, Dogen und Päpste”. He has been awarded the Manfred Fuchs Prize for young researchers in Baden-Württemberg, which is worth 10,000 euros. Christian A. Neumann is a senior lecturer (Akademischer Rat a. Z.) at the Department of History of Heidelberg University. The Manfred Lautenschläger Prize in the area of the humanities and cultural studies, likewise worth 10,000 euros, has been awarded to Joey Rauschenberger. He is receiving the prize for his dissertation at Ruperto Carola’s Research Centre on Antigypsyism, in which he explored reparation procedures for Sinti and Roma after the period of National Socialism. Joey Rauschenberger is on the academic staff of Heidelberg University’s Department of History. This year the Academy awarded a total of eight advancement prizes to excellent young researchers in Baden-Württemberg. The awards are meant to encourage young scientists and scholars in an early phase of their career and support their research. The eight prizes, worth a total of 85,000 euros, were presented at the annual celebration of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities on 20 June 2026 in the Great Hall of Heidelberg’s Old University.
Humboldt Professorship
In order to further strengthen Heidelberg University as an internationally recognized location of infection research, Prof. Dr Mathias Lichterfeld has been selected for an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship endowed with 7.8 million euros. Leading international academics are granted this most valuable of German research awards to enable them to conduct long-term, cutting-edge research at German universities. A virologist and infectious disease physician, Prof. Lichterfeld works at the interface of basic research and clinical medicine in order to develop curative strategies for HIV infection – an objective that has remained elusive to date. Mathias Lichterfeld currently does research at the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT and Harvard, a leading center for collaborative biomedical research. He also works as an infectious disease physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the two principal teaching hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Nominated by Ruperto Carola, he is to transfer to the Medical Faculty Heidelberg and play a key role in advancing the Center for Integrative Infectious Diseases Research. International academics who have a leading position worldwide in their field can be nominated for the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship. The intention is that – with the support of the highly endowed prize – their research studies can make a sustainable contribution to the international competitiveness of Germany as a research location. The professorship is awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and financed by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. The prize money is meant for financing the first seven years of their work. Up to ten professorships can be granted annually. After successful appointment negotiations with the respective universities, the prizes will be awarded next year.
Dan David Prize
Verena Meier of Heidelberg University has received the Dan David Prize for History from the foundation of the same name for her pioneering research on the persecution of and resistance by Sinti and Roma in European modernity. The prize is considered one of the most highly endowed research prizes in the field of history and is presented to outstanding young scholars from around the world. An international panel of experts decides on the recipients. The prize money of 300,000 US dollars each recognizes research achievements to date while also supporting current research projects. In her dissertation, completed in 2024, Verena Meier reconstructs the genocide of Sinti and Roma during the Nazi era, using Magdeburg as a case study and taking into account gender-historical differentiated perspectives. In it, she also examines how this crime was addressed after 1945. Drawing on files from over 30 German and international archives, she succeeded in meticulously tracing police persecution practices and uncovering individual responsibilities within the criminal police as well as collaborating segments of society, while also highlighting the scope for action available to those being persecuted. Currently, the historian is working on a postdoctoral project at the Research Centre on Antigypsyism of Heidelberg University, in which she examines the interconnections between antigypsyism, antisemitism, and colonial racism from a history of science perspective, with a particular focus on criminology and medicine. The Dan David Prize was established in 2001 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Dan David (1929-2011). The foundation is based at Tel Aviv University, Israel. In addition to the historian from Heidelberg, eight other scholars received the award. The award ceremony took place at the beginning of June in Italy.
Gips-Schüle Young Talent Award
Her outstanding doctoral thesis at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH) has earned Dr Mai P. Tran the Gips-Schüle Foundation’s Young Talent Award for 2026 in the category of life sciences. The award comes with 10,000 euros in prize money. It honors, in particular, the molecular biologist’s scientific contributions towards developing a process from synthetic biology by which single RNA strands can be folded so as to form three-dimensional nano structures. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is key to various fundamental biological processes; it transfers genetic information, translates it into proteins or supports gene regulation. Mai P. Tran is currently conducting postdoctoral research at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials (IMSEAM) of Heidelberg University, in the working group of Prof. Dr. Peer Fischer. With its annual Gips-Schüle Young Talent Awards, the Stuttgart-based foundation recognizes young researchers working at the interface of scientific excellence and practical application. Apart from the prize for Mai P. Tran, a further award will be presented this year. The prize-giving ceremony is to take place on 21 July 2026 in Constance; the Gips-Schüle Foundation announced the awards on 5 June 2026.
