Science prizes with deadlines until December 2025

Humboldt Research Award: grants up to 100 Humboldt Research Awards to internationally renowned academics from abroad in recognition of their entire academic record to date. Academics from abroad, regardless of their discipline or nationality, may be nominated by an established academic, employed by a university or research institution in Germany. Nominations may also be initiated by award winners of the Humboldt Foundation working abroad, provided that the nomination is made jointly with a colleague working in Germany. The award winners are invited to conduct a research project in Germany for up to one year. The award amount totals 80.000 €.

Nominations can be submitted online any time.

Hector Science Prize: honours Professors at German universities and research institutions for their outstanding research achievements and their special commitment to the teaching and encouragement of young scientists. The nominee should perform research and teaching in disciplines such as mathematics, informatics, engineering, life sciences,or medicine.

Nomination deadline: 15 September 2025

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize:  honours outstanding researchers who, considering the stage of their scientific career, have made exceptional fundamental achievements in their fields of research on an international and national scale and who can be expected to shape the research landscape in Germany in the future. The prize is not limited to specific fields and it can be awarded to scientists and researchers as well as to research teams. Only eligible institutions are invited to submit a nomination (see details on the prize website).

Nomination deadline: mid-January 2026

Volvo Environment Prize: recognizes excellent contributions to a scientific field but also the impact outside of the specific discipline. All disciplines of relevance to the environment can be considered.

Nomination deadline: 20 January 2026

International Prize for Biology: awarded annually by the Japanese Society for the Advancement of Science to an international biologist. The selection committee invites relevant individuals and organizations to submit nominations.

Nomination deadline: 14 March 2026

Hector RCD Award: supports junior scientists in the crucial phase between postdoc and professorship. W1 professors (with or without tenure tracks), junior research group leaders working at German universities or research institutions may apply.

Application deadline: 30 October 2025

Copernicus Medal: recognises excellent and innovative work in geosciences or in planetary and space sciences combined with exceptional efforts in carrying out services for the community.

Nomination deadline: 15 November 2025

Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize: honours an outstanding early-career evolutionary biologist. Researchers (max. 5 years after receiving their PhD) working in all areas of evolutionary biology, on any taxonomic group or system and using empirical and/or theoretical approaches can apply or be nominated. The selection committee is  looking for candidates who take creative approaches to answering pressing questions in evolutionary biology.

Deadline: expected to be 1 December 2025

GfÖ Prize (The Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland): honours a young, but experienced ecologist at the postdoc level for an outstanding contribution to advance the field of ecological research. The potential prize holder has completed her or his PhD thesis during the last six years and does not typically hold a permanent position at the time of nomination. The award is presented during the Annual Conference of the GfÖ. Nominations can be made by GfÖ members to the GfÖ board.

Nomination deadline: 31 January 2026

Alfried-Krupp-Förderpreis: dedicated to young university lecturers, scientists and engineering scientists who already have outstanding qualifications and excellent research achievements. Early-career researchers under 38, who have a permanent or temporary professorship at a German university (initial appointment at paygrade W2 or 3) can be nominated. Nominations can be made by individuals, scientific universities, and research institutions from Germany.

Nomination deadline: expected to be 28 February 2026 (call expected Autumn 2025)

Gaia Masters Student Paper Award (oekom):  Masters students are encouraged to submit their results from research-based courses or Masters theses in the field of transdisciplinary environmental and sustainability science.

Application deadline: 28 November 2025

Deutscher Studienpreis: honours the best young German scientists in all disciplines. Graduates in all scientific disciplines, who have obtained a PhD with magna or summa cum laude, can apply.

Application deadline: 1 March 2026 (call opens October 2025)

KlarText Prize: recognises young scientists who have written a very good dissertation and are keen to explain to a non-scientific audience, in the form of a generally comprehensible article in German, what they have done in their research. This science communication prize is awarded by the Klaus Tschira Foundation.

Application deadline: 28 February 2026 (call opens December 2025)

DFG Communicator Prize: honours an individual researcher or a research team that has made an outstanding contribution to science communication. The DFG and Stifterverband present the award each year to scientists in any research area who make their work and their specialist area accessible to a wider audience in a particularly innovative, diverse and effective way, thereby proactively promoting dialogue between the research community and society.

Deadline: 30 September 2025

DFG Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize: honours researchers for their outstanding contributions to promoting animal welfare in science and research. It recognises scientific research that contributes to reducing the burden on animals used in experiments, reducing the number of animals used, or replacing them. Eligible applicants are researchers with a doctoral degree who are currently working at research institutions in Germany. Applications from research teams of up to four scientists are also welcome.

Application deadline: 5 October 2025

Georg-Forster-Research Award: recognises the academic records of internationally outstanding researchers from developing and transition countries. The award is endowed with 60.000 € and the winners are invited to carry out a research project in Germany.

Nomination deadline: usually 31 October

German Environmental Award (DBU): recognises commitment and achievements that make a decisive and exemplary contribution to the protection and preservation of our environment now and in the future. The award, endowed with 500.000 €, is presented to individuals whose innovative products and improvements of technical processes, successful research results or lifetime achievements are characterized by sustainable environmental protection. Only authorised nominators may send their nominations to the DBU (a list of nominators can be found here).

Nomination deadline: mid-November 2025

Deutscher Zukunftspreis: annually honours individuals or teams for outstanding innovations in the areas of technology, engineering and the natural sciences, as well as software and algorithm-based innovations. Proposals have to be submitted by one of the entitled 21 institutes (list of the institutions).

Nomination deadline: 31 January