Dissertation Awards

The Bavarian Cultural Award is granted once a year by Bayernwerk in partnership with the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, Science and the Arts. The Bavarian Cultural Award is intended to help maintain cultural diversity while also creating a platform for the arts and academia in Bavaria. In the area of universities, the best dissertation receives the award. The award comes with 2,000 euros in prize money.

Nomination process: central call for nominations by TUM-GS in April/May of every year.

The Körber-Stiftung (Körber Foundation) awards prizes totaling over 100,000 euros each year for contributions made by young researchers that are of outstanding social importance, including three top awards of 25,000 euros each. Alongside excellence in a specific discipline, one of the main aspects that count for the Deutscher Studienpreis is the specific social importance of individual research contributions. The Deutscher Studienpreis is awarded annually and is aimed at all doctoral graduates in all academic disciplines within a particular graduating class.

[Translate to en:] The Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation awards scientific prizes for outstanding work in selected fields in the engineering sciences, medicine and the natural sciences. It rewards research characterized by its high potential for practical application and by the special significance attached to its aftermath. The Foundation prizes the best doctoral candidates in the Hard Sciences in each partner university. These annual awards are of $5,000 each.

Nomination process: central call for nominations by TUM-GS during the first quarter of the year.

The Klaus Tschira Award is granted in the fields of biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, neurosciences and physics. The Klaus Tschira Award for Achievements in Public Understanding of Sciences is granted annually. Junior scholars and scientists who have earned a doctorate the year before are eligible to apply. The best articles receive the award and 5,000 euros.

The Daimler und Benz Stiftung (Daimler & Benz Foundation) grants this award in recognition of excellent achievements by female graduates in the engineering sciences and as a way to motivate female students to strive for a doctorate in engineering. The prize is awarded yearly and is endowed with 10,000 euros.

Nomination process: central call for nominations by TUM-GS at the start of the first quarter.

The Tyczka Energie Stiftung (Tyczka Energy Foundation) grants the Dr. Tyczka Energy Award in cooperation with TUM and Hochsch

Energy: for work on concepts for saving energy based on practical applications or those that have already been implemented

Industrial gases: for work dealing with innovative applications of technical gases

The award is presented for dissertations and theses from bachelor’s or master’s students which have developed ideas for environmentally friendly, decentralized energy generation, supply and application or innovative concepts for industrial gases.

The Willy-Hager-Preis (Willy Hager Award) is given in recognition of younger scientists’ outstanding work in the field of process engineering for (industrial) water or wastewater treatment. Works submitted for consideration should generally focus on the issue from a process engineering standpoint. The Willy Hager Award is endowed with € 6,000.00 in prize money. This amount is divided equally between the award winner and the higher education institution where the work was performed.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Biomedizinische Technik (German Society for Biomedical Engineering, or DGBMT; part of the Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE)) and the Klee Family Foundation present an annual award for scientific work in the following areas of focus:

• Biomedical technology as an interdisciplinary subject
• Engineering-based solutions to current clinical problems
• Contributions to diagnosis or treatment from the natural sciences

The award comes with 5,000 euros in prize money.

The Vodafone-Stiftung supports scientific advancement in mobile communication by giving out innovation and support awards every year: The innovation award, endowed with 12,000 euros, recognizes outstanding work on the subject of the development of mobile and landline communications.

The support awards are given in recognition of outstanding dissertations in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, the market, customer focus and applications. Each of the two prizes carries an endowment of 5,000 euros.

Starck-Promotionspreis für Festkörperchemie und Materialforschung (Starck Doctoral Award for Solid State Chemistry and Materials Science)
This award is granted every two years by the German Chemical Society, Solid State Chemistry and Materials Science Group.

Gerhard-Billek-Preis für Lebensmittelchemie (Gerhard Billek Award for Food Chemistry)
This award is given in recognition of one outstanding dissertation that stands out for its academic originality and interdisciplinary approach, with particular attention to aspects relating to food technology and significant advances in this scientific area.

Klaus-Grohe-Stiftung für medizinische Chemie (Klaus Grohe Foundation for Medical Chemistry)
This award recognizes outstanding works by young scientists and researchers (doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers) from research institutions within Germany and elsewhere in Europe who are working in the field of medical chemistry/active ingredient research.

ORCHEM-Preis für Nachwuchswissenschaftler (ORCHEM Award for Junior Researchers)
The Liebig-Vereinigung für Organische Chemie (Liebig Association for Organic Chemistry) within the German Chemical Society grants the ORCHEM Award for Junior Researchers every two years. This award is presented to younger researchers who have qualified through new, original and groundbreaking scientific work in this subject area. The award comes with 5,000 euros in prize money.

Fachgruppenpreis der Fachgruppe Analytische Chemie (Group Prize of the Analytical Chemistry Group)
The aim of this prize is to distinguish outstanding junior scientists and researchers in the area of analytical chemistry. The award comes with 2,000 euros in prize money.

This prize, awarded by Gesellschaft für Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie e.V., is presented in recognition of outstanding research work in the fields of technical chemistry, process engineering, biotechnology and chemical apparatus. Originality and scientific and technical advances are important aspects of the assessment process. The award comes with prize money of 20,000 euros and is presented annually.

The Early Excellence in Science Award is conferred annually to biologists, chemists and medical researchers who have completed their PhD within the last five years. It recognizes young scientists who have contributed new insights to their fields with their research. The award is endowed with € 10,000 per category.

Nomination process: central call for nominations by TUM-GS, followed by direct nomination by the department in the second quarter of the year.

The Wöhler-BASF Early Career Award is granted in recognition of early-career researchers and scientists who have completed a doctorate and have performed outstanding independent scientific work in the field of inorganic chemistry. The award is endowed with 5,000 euros and is presented every two years.

The Gustav-Hertz-Preis (Gustav Hertz Award) is intended to recognize an outstanding, recently completed work by one or more young physicists. The work to be awarded distinction is supposed to come from the fields of experimental or theoretical physics, show a certain conclusion and contain new findings. The award comes with 7,500 euros in prize money.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Massenspektrometrie (DGMS) confers the Wolfgang-Paul-Studienpreis (Wolfgang Paul Study Award) annually for the best master’s theses and dissertations in the field of mass spectrometry. It is endowed with a total of € 12,500. The award can be split, with master’s theses receiving € 2,500 each and dissertations receiving € 5,000 each. Works submitted can come from all disciplines where mass spectrometry is an important method.

The Gaede Prize is conferred in recognition of work from the fields of fundamental research, application and process engineering in the sectors of vacuum physics and vacuum technology; thin films; surface physics; materials and processes of solid-state electronics; and nanostructure sciences and technology. The award comes with prize money of 10,000 euros and is presented annually.

The Gesellschaft für Informatik confers an annual award for one outstanding dissertation in the area of computer science. This includes not only work that represents advances in computer science, but also works from applications of computer science in other disciplines and works that study the interactions between computer science and society. The award comes with 5,000 euros in prize money.

Nomination process: central nomination by the Department of Informatics.

The German Federal Statistical Office presents the Gerhard Fürst Award annually in the categories of dissertations and master’s/bachelor’s theses. It is conferred in recognition of outstanding works that cover theoretical topics with a close relationship to the range of tasks involved in official statistics or study empirical issues with extensive use of data drawn from official statistics. In the area of dissertations, the award is endowed with 5,000 euros.

Google PhD Fellowship students are a select group recognized by Google researchers and their institutions as some of the most promising young academics in the world. The Fellowships are awarded to students who represent the future of research in the following fields:

• Algorithms, Optimizations and Markets
• Computational Neuroscience
• Health Research
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Machine Learning
• Machine Perception, Speech Technology and Computer Vision
• Mobile Computing
• Natural Language Processing (including Information Retrieval and Extraction)
• Privacy and Security
• Programming Languages and Software Engineering
• Quantum Computing
• Structured Data and Database Management
• Systems and Networking

The fellowship can be awarded for up to 3 years (depending on the remaining duration of the doctoral research project but min. one year) and consists of a yearly bursary towards stipend/salary, health care, social benefits, tuition and fees, conference travel and personal computing equipment.

The TUM-GS will announce the call for nomination during the summer months each year. Nomination by doctoral supervisors only.

The Vodafone-Stiftung supports scientific advancement in mobile communication by giving out innovation and support awards every year: The innovation award, endowed with 12,000 euros, recognizes outstanding work on the subject of the development of mobile and landline communications.

The support awards are given in recognition of outstanding dissertations in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, the market, customer focus and applications. Each of the two prizes carries an endowment of 5,000 euros.

The Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators by the Eppendorf AG is granted annually to European researchers not older than 35 years. It acknowledges outstanding contributions to biomedical research in Europe based on methods of molecular biology, including novel analytical concepts. The Award is presented in partnership with the scientific journal Nature. The prize money is 20.000 euros.

Once a year, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immunologie e.V. (DGfI) confers the Hans Hench Doctoral Award for Clinical Immunology among its members. The award is presented by the DGfI selection committee for the best dissertation written in Germany in the field of rheumatology, with a focus on inflammation research, autoimmune conditions and immune deficiency. The award comes with 2,000 euros in prize money.

The German Genetics Society presents the Elisabeth Gateff Prize annually for outstanding dissertations in the field of genetics. The award comes with 3,000 euros in prize money.

The Early Excellence in Science Award is conferred annually to biologists, chemists and medical researchers who have completed their PhD within the last five years. It recognizes young scientists who have contributed new insights to their fields with their research. The award is endowed with € 10,000 per category.

Nomination process: central call for nominations by TUM-GS, followed by direct nomination by the department in the second quarter of the year.

The Doctoral Awards of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology are granted in recognition of outstanding dissertations that either tie in with practical applications in clinical microbiology or hygiene or contribute to current research in infection biology. Up to five awards are presented, each of them endowed with as much as 500 euros.

The German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM) presents the GBM Doctoral Award every two years for an outstanding dissertation on a topic in biochemistry or molecular biology.

The Vereinigung für Allgemeine und Angewandte Mikrobiologie (VAAM) presents the VAAM Doctoral Award annually for dissertations in a subfield of general and applied microbiology. The nominating person must be a member of VAAM, but the nominee is not required to be a member.

With its Science and Research Award, the Gregor Louisoder Umweltstiftung recognizes junior scientists and researchers whose master’s theses or dissertations represent special dedication to environmental protection and conservation of nature. Each prize is endowed with 2,500 euros, and an additional 2,500 euros is provided to the winner as earmarked support to continue his or her scientific activities.

Areas of focus in research: biological, earth and environmental sciences; forestry and agricultural science; business and economics.

The OECOTROPHICA Award is conferred annually for outstanding dissertations and master’s theses. BerufsVerband Oecotrophologie e.V. (VDOE) presents the award in recognition of excellent doctoral dissertations and master’s theses from the fields of nutrition behavior/consumption research and human nutrition.

The aim of the Heinrich-Stockmeyer-Stiftung in granting this award is to recognize practical approaches to potential solutions and application-oriented research that contribute to improving food safety and to boosting consumer confidence in the quality of foods. Individual scientific achievements such as theses for the degree of Diplom and doctoral and postdoctoral dissertations are eligible for the award, as are publications in specialized journals recognized by the scientific community that have been written in the past three years. The award is endowed with 10,000 euros and is presented annually.

The EHI Stiftung (EHI Foundation) and GS1 Germany jointly present the Science and Research Award for excellent academic works (bachelor’s and master’s theses and dissertations) and cooperative work that is highly relevant to the retail sector. Further information: http://www.wissenschaftspreis.org/bewerbung/index.html

A new generation of marketing experts is developing the theories and tools that will shape the future of our field. The Marketing Dissertation Award, initiated by EMAC and McKinsey & Company, recognizes and encourages this emerging talent.

The FGF supports research on the subjects of entrepreneurship, innovation and mid-sized business, with a particular focus on junior scholars and researchers. To this end, the FGF teams up with various supporters to present a number of awards. For further information, please visit http://www.fgf-ev.de/veranstaltungen/awards/.

Stiftung Industrieforschung presents annual awards for up to three academic works that combine academic originality, stringent methodology and practical relevance to the everyday operations of small and medium-sized enterprises. Further information: http://www.stiftung-industrieforschung.de/index.php/preise/richtlinien

Once per year, the Deutsches Aktieninstitut recognizes the best academic theses and dissertations on the subject of stock and the capital market by presenting the Hochschulpreis des Deutschen Aktieninstituts.

The Roman Herzog Institute presents the Roman Herzog Forschungspreis Soziale Marktwirtschaft in recognition of junior researchers whose dissertations or postdoctoral dissertations consider the readiness of the concept of the social market economy for the future, and thus tackle the key issues in regulatory policy in the 21st century. The award is conferred annually and is endowed with 35,000 euros in total prize money.

Nomination process: own applications submitted by December 31, 2016.

The Wolfgang-Ritter-Stiftung presents an annual award in recognition of outstanding academic achievement in the fields of business administration and economics. In keeping with the founder’s intentions, the works submitted for consideration should deal with enterprise in the market economy. The maximum award is € 20,000.

The Conrad-Matschoß-Preis is awarded by the Association of German Engineers (VDI) in recognition of work that creates new scientific and research findings and brings new attention to the history of technology. The award aims to promote historical analysis and depiction of technology, engineering and engineers in the context of society at large, the research sector and the environment and open up these subjects to the general public. The award comes with 3,000 euros in prize money.