Prof. Antje Boetius, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Bremerhaven, is the winner of the Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker Award. The prize recognizes scientists who contribute to the dialogue between science and society.
The Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker Prize of the Bayer Foundation for enhancing the impact of science for the benefit of society was established in 2021 in honor of the 80th birthday of Prof. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker. The prize was awarded for the first time on January 30 and is endowed with 3,000 euros plus 10,000 euros for future projects.
Prof. Winnacker is considered the father of German biotechnology. The professor of biochemistry was decisively involved in countless findings in genetic research. He has thus shaped German genetic research like no other. With the founding of the Munich Gene Center, he laid the foundation for the most successful German biotech cluster in Martinsried/Munich. More on this in the BioM Podcast with Prof. Winnacker (German only).
Prof. Antje Boetius is receiving the award in recognition of her outstanding public engagement, policy advice and scientific communication across a broad range of topics, particularly including the impact of climate change, biodiversity losses and ocean health.
Antje Boetius is a polar and deep-sea researcher and the Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research. As Professor of Geomicrobiology and Head of the Joint Research Group for Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, she is involved in the MARUM Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bremen. Boetius has participated in 50 expeditions on international research vessels. Her recent research focuses on the effects of climate change on the Arctic Ocean and the biodiversity of the deep sea.
She is the recipient of many awards, including the German Research Foundation’s Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Communicator Prizes and the German Environmental Award 2018, and she was also presented with the Federal Cross of Merit in 2019. She is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and other national and international academies and an active science communicator.