Research Prizes The Lautenschläger Research Prize
The Lautenschläger Research Prize of Heidelberg University dates from 2001 and is awarded to outstanding scientists or scholars actively engaged in research. It is endowed with 250,000 euros. The award is designed to support recipients in the realisation of incipient or ongoing research projects and more especially to encourage international cooperation in the relevant field and the involvement of upcoming generations of scholars and scientists in those projects.
Recipients of the Prize will be either internationally respected members of Heidelberg University itself or researchers from elsewhere with a distinctive and intensive record of academic collaboration with the University.
Scientists and scholars from all disciplines are eligible for the Prize, whether they are active in the sciences and medicine, the arts and humanities or the social sciences. In terms of eligibility, no distinction is made between application-oriented and basic research.
Prize winner for 2025: Prof. Dr Jan Lohmann
How do plants manage to renew themselves all their lives and to completely regenerate damaged parts? This is the central question for research by Prof. Dr Jan Lohmann, director of the department for stem cell biology at Heidelberg University’s Centre for Organismal Studies (COS). Using genetic, molecular biological and computer-supported methods he is decoding how plants regulate the precise balance between cell division and differentiation, enabling life-long growth and adaptation. His groundbreaking contributions have earned him the Lautenschläger Research Prize.
The Lautenschläger Research Prize for Junior Researchers
The Lautenschläger Research Prize for Junior Reseachers is endowed with 25,000 euros and is intended to promote excellent young researchers in the long term. The prize is awarded to habilitants, junior research group leaders and junior professors who can demonstrate outstanding scientific achievements and particularly innovative research approaches. The prize money is intended to support young researchers in their personal scientific development and their research activities.
Prize Winner for 2025: Dr Dr Lukas Bunse
The Lautenschläger Junior Researcher Prize for 2025 goes to neurologist Dr Dr Lukas Bunse. The 37-year-old scientist does research at the Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University and at the German Cancer Research Center, also working as a senior physician at the Neurology Department of Mannheim University Hospital. The focus of his research interest is how a patient’s own immune system can be used to fight brain tumors. His studies are laying the foundations for novel vaccinations against tumors and have won international acclaim.
Quotes
Greeting by the Rector
“The Lautenschläger Research Prize honors top-class international research conducted either at Heidelberg University or in cooperation with our researchers. Worth 250,000 euros, it is the most valuable prize endowed by a private donor. An interdisciplinary board made of globally connected experts guarantees its high scientific and scholarly quality. The prize is open to researchers from all disciplines, as befits Heidelberg University’s profile as an excellent comprehensive university. My warmest thanks go to the award donor, our Honorary Senator Dr. h. c. Manfred Lautenschläger, for his impressive engagement.”
Prof. Dr. Frauke Melchior
The Donor
"Top-quality research is costly, scientists and scholars invest time and know-how, the community profits from it. I want to support this process of give and take to the tune of a quarter of a million euros. We can draw a parallel to the way things work in private enterprise. Someone has a good idea and the courage to branch out on his own. Give him financial support and he’ll know exactly what to do with it. I imagine things are much the same for a scholar or scientist. He may be, say, a quarter of the way to completing a research project. If he gets the Prize, it will be a very welcome influx of funds. Or someone may hit on some exciting findings during his routine research work and need extra money to follow the matter up."
Dr h.c. Manfred Lautenschläger
About Manfred Lautenschläger
Manfred Lautenschläger, born in Karlsruhe in 1938, is chairman of the supervisory board of MLP-AG, Heidelberg. His special affinities with this city and its University date back to his student days, part of which he spent in Heidelberg. In 1998 he was made an Honorary Senator of Heidelberg University. His aim in donating this award is to encourage research and help provide the financial resources it requires.
Research Prize Winners
Table
2023 | Prof. Dr Christine Selhuber-Unkel | Biophysics |
2020 | Prof. Dr Hannah Monyer | Neurobiology |
2018 | Prof. Dr Karlheinz Meier | Experimental Physics |
2015 | Prof. Dr Axel Michaels | Classical Indology |
2013 | Prof. Dr Ralf Bartenschlager | Molecular Virology |
2011 | Prof. Dr Joachim Wittbrodt | Developmental Biology |
2009 | Prof. Dr Eva Grebel | Astronomy |
2007 | Prof. Dr Matthias Hentze Prof. Dr Andreas Kulozik | Molecular Medicine |
2005 | Prof. Dr Tonio Hölscher | Classical Archeology |
2003 | Prof. Dr Peter Krammer | Immunogenetics |
2001 | Prof. Dr Johanna Stachel | Particle & Nuclear Physics |
Junior Research Prize Winners
Table
2023 | Dr Victoria Ingham | Biology |
2020 | Dr Felix Joos | Theoretical Computer Science |
2018 | Dr Claudia Backes | Physical Chemistry |