Körber European Science Prize

Clare Grey at the blackboard, Körber Prize winner 2021 Photo: Alice Whitby

Awarded annually, the Körber European Science Prize honours a distinguished scientist actively conducting research in the fields of either Life Sciences or Physical Sciences in Europe. With prize money totalling €1,000,000, we strive to support outstanding scientists in their endeavours and promote innovative research with future promise.

About the Körber Prize

Prize money in euros

1000000

Established

1984

Prizewinners later awarded with the Nobel Prize

7

Different countries research conducted

14

In 1984, our founder Kurt A. Körber established the Körber European Science Prize to honor scientific excellence in Europe. Kurt Körber’s initial idea was to support scientists in the realisation of forward-looking ideas. Only projects that promised "a significant contribution to the improvement of living conditions on our planet" were to be honored. For almost forty years now, the Search Committees and the Trustee Committee have sought to live up to this claim when selecting Körber Prize winners.

„Over recent years, the Körber European Science Prize has developed into a high-ranking European science prize. In the last ten years alone, the Körber Prize winners included seven scientists who were later awarded the Nobel Prize.“

Prof. Dr. Martin Stratmann

President of the Max-Planck-Society and Chairman of the Trustee Committee for the Körber Prize.

With the Körber Prize, Kurt A. Körber also pursued a political objective. When the prize was established in the 1980s, one of its aims was to use science to make the then still existing Iron Curtain between Eastern and Western Europe more permeable. In the first few years, the prize was awarded to research groups, but since 2005 it has been awarded to outstanding individuals conducting research at a European institution.

We are convinced that investing in fundamental research in Europe is more important than ever to keep up with the global competition for the best minds and ideas.

"It was important to the founder to emphasise three ideas: Germany, Europe and the future. The prize was intended to promote research in Europe."

Reimar Lüst

First Chairman of the Körber Prize Trustee Committee between 1984 - 1996