Prizes & Awards

Helmholtz Imaging has announced the 2026 winners of its annual Best Scientific Image Contest. Once again, Max Delbrück Center researchers are among the winners.

Bioinformatician Pia Rautenstrauch has received a Helmholtz Doctoral Award for developing a deep learning model that integrates omics data from single-cell experiments, even when the data come from different methods. Her work helps to advance biomedical research.

Five glass sculptures by artist Julia Lohmann will soon adorn the main entrance of the Imaging Innovation Center of the Max Delbrück Center in Buch. Lohmann won an art competition organized by the center for “Innenall,” an artwork inspired by the colors and shapes of microscopic images.

Klaus Rajewsky is among this year’s winners of Emory University's Max Cooper Prize in Immunology, which recognizes scientists for their “transformative and revolutionary achievements.” The three winners will be formally honored on Sept. 29, 2026, with a $100,000 prize to be shared equally.

The German Stem Cell Network is honoring Maike Sander with a Hilde Mangold Award. The network recognized Sander for her scientific excellence, outstanding scientific leadership, and impact as a role model for women in research.

Transforming the loud knocking sounds of MRI scanners into techno music to make the procedure more pleasant is the goal of artist Johanna Barnbeck’s and Max Delbrück Center’s Thoralf Niendorf’s science communication project, which is being funded by the Stiftung Charité with approximately €100,000.

A quiz hosted by the Finance Department, a behind-the-scenes tour of the biobank, and a relaxed lunch on the lawn — Summer Science Day 2026 offered something for everyone. The event brought together employees from across the Max Delbrück Center and offered inspiring glimpses of the center's future.

Die Junge Akademie and Volkswagen Foundation recognized fifteen exemplary teams with their “Best Research Environment” award – five of them also received €10,000 in prize money. The Junker Lab is among them, nominated by Dr. Anis Senoussi and Sophia Levitskaja. Congratulations!

Altuna Akalin has been appointed a professorship at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The position will enable closer collaboration with clinicians and faster application of bioinformatics in clinical care.

Uwe Ohler and Gaetano Gargiulo have been awarded prestigious ERC Advanced Grants. With funding of €2.5 million each, they will spend the next five years investigating how protein synthesis is regulated and identifying vulnerabilities in pediatric brain tumors.