Körber European Science Prize

Awarded annually, the Körber European Science Prize honors a distinguished scientist conducting research in Europe, alternating between the fields of life sciences and physical sciences. With prize money totaling €1,000,000, the Körber Prize supports outstanding researchers and promotes pioneering scientific work with strong future potential.

About the Körber Prize

Prize money in euros

1,000,000

Established

1984

Prize winners later awarded with the Nobel Prize

8

Different countries research conducted in

14

In 1984, founder Kurt A. Körber established the Körber European Science Prize to honor scientific excellence in Europe. His aim was to support researchers in pursuing visionary ideas – projects with the potential to make “a significant contribution to improving living conditions on our planet”. For over four decades, the Search Committees and the Trustee Committee have worked to uphold this founding vision in selecting each year’s prize winner.

„With the prize, Kurt Körber wanted to highlight two concerns: the role of excellent science for our society and the quest for a united, peaceful Europe. This lends the award its special dignity. In today’s unsettled times, it serves not only as a powerful reminder. It is a real incentive to work for Europe – and science has much to contribute.“
Prof. Dr. Patrick Cramer

Chair of the Trustees Committee of the Körber Prize and President of the Max Planck Society

From the outset, Kurt A. Körber also pursued a political goal: to use science as a means to make the then still existing Iron Curtain between Eastern and Western Europe more permeable. In the first years, the prize was awarded to research groups, but since 2005 it has been awarded to outstanding individuals conducting research at a European institution.

To this day, the prize upholds Körber’s European ideals: investing in fundamental science to strengthen Europe’s role in the global race for knowledge and talent – a commitment more relevant today than ever.