Awards and Prizes

Illustration Preise und Auszeichnungen
© Uni MS - Robert Matzke

Prizes and awards not only recognise individual achievements, but also advance scientific progress by creating incentives for excellence and serving as inspiration for young talent. Science awards are particularly career-enhancing for early career researchers. They represent early recognition of outstanding research and often kickstart a successful scientific career. Awards put their recipients in the spotlight of their research community and open up a variety of networking opportunities. They also enable future research projects thanks to endowments and grant money.

Take your achievements or those of your colleagues to the next level by nominating yourself or a colleague for an award!

Overview of the award-winning researchers at the University of Münster

Structured overview of scientific awards

Here you will find a structured overview of national and international academic awards for which you can nominate yourself or be nominated by others. Please note that this service is currently only available in German. The entries are categorised by career stage: established academics; early-career researchers; and doctoral awards. Use our compilation to find awards that recognise your excellent research achievements, or those of your colleagues.

For each award, you will find concise information on the target audience, prize money, and application deadlines, as well as a link to the relevant call for applications.

At the University of Münster, you can use the FIT information service (SSO login with your University user ID) and the ELFI research funding search service to find suitable calls for proposals.

Current Calls

Science Awards of the Society for Data Protection and Data Security (GDD) 
The GDD awards this prize for outstanding academic work in the fields of data protection and data security. The prize is intended primarily for early-career researchers. It recognizes completed or nearly completed theses or dissertations. The works must not be more than two years old. In addition to works in the fields of law, economics, and computer science, works from other academic disciplines that address issues in the areas of data protection and data security are also eligible. A prerequisite for receiving the academic award is the fulfillment of the criteria for academic excellence. The theses must be submitted with the endorsement of the supervising university professor. The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros.
Deadline: 31 July 2026

Academy Prize – sponsored by the Monika Kutzner Foundation
The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities awards this prize for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of cancer research by young researchers in the life sciences and medicine. There is no fixed age limit. It is intended for scientists who have already distinguished themselves through significant research contributions at an early stage in their careers. Prize-winners should be regarded as ‘young’ in relation to their achievements. The prize is worth €10,000.
Deadline: 30 September 2026

Stanisław Lem European Research Prize
The international call for applications, organised by the Wrocław University of Technology, is aimed at young researchers (aged 40 or under – born in 1986 or later) who, over the last three years (2023–2026), have made a significant discovery or achieved outstanding results in the broad fields of natural and engineering sciences, characterised by strong technological elements, interdisciplinarity, creativity and foresight. They must be employed at a university or research centre in an EU Member State or a country associated with the Horizon programme, as well as Switzerland. The prize is worth 100,000 PLN (approx. 23,000 EUR).
Deadline: 30 September 2026

Dissertation Prizes of the University of Münster
The University of Münster’s dissertation awards recognise outstanding doctoral theses completed at the University of Münster. The Dissertation Prizes serve to support the prizewinners' future research endeavours. All fifteen faculties of the University of Münster are invited to nominate their best dissertations from the current academic year for consideration. Each award comes with 3,000 euros in prize money which can also be used to finance a colloquium in Münster on the prizewinning research topic. Up to fifteen doctoral candidates are eligible to receive the Dissertation Prize in recognition of their outstanding dissertations. The Rectorate is responsible for selecting the finalists at the recommendation of a special jury appointed by Rectorate Committee for Academic Personnel Development (RAP).
Deadline: 9 October 2026

Our services and support

Are you interested in nominating yourself or would you like to nominate a colleague for a science award? Then please get in touch with us. We at the SAFIR research funding support office would be happy to assist you with your award nomination. We offer the following services:

  • offering individual advice - from doctoral candidates to established academics - on tailor-made prize competitions and other awards such as academy memberships
  • providing information on current calls for applications for science prizes and awards. We are also providing you with the 2026 calendar of deadlines for Science Awards
  • offering support obtaining the necessary documents for your nomination
  • reviewing your nomination documents strategically upon request
  • organising and hosting events on the subject of science prizes and awards. We would be happy to tailor these to your individual needs upon request.
  • networking with academics and administrators at the University of Münster who are responsible for science prizes in the departments and collaborative projects
  • benchmarking and scouting potential nominees for science prizes, whom the Rectorate is authorised to nominate.

Scientific Awards of the University Münster

Awarding of the 2024 rectorate prizes
© Uni MS - Christoph Steinweg

The University of Münster recognizes outstanding achievements of its academics and students in research, teaching and studies with highly endowed prizes. Nominations for these prizes are accepted at regular intervals.

Information on the University of Münster's Rectorate Prizes can be found here.