Birnstiel Awards are presented annually in a ceremony held at the IMP in Vienna. The awardees show their research and have an opportunity to discuss it with researchers from the IMP an the wider Vienna BioCenter community.
2023 Ceremony
The International Birnstiel Award for Doctoral Studies in Molecular Life Sciences 2023 was awarded to: Sam van Beljouw (TU Delft), Ana Paredes (Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research - CNIC), Ariën Schiepers (The Rockefeller University), Ida Jentoft (Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences), Rosalie Lipsh-Sokolik (Weizmann Institute of Science), and Stanislau Yatskevich (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology / University of Cambridge).
Photos: Ouriel Morgensztern
The award ceremony was chaired by Meinrad Busslinger in his double-role as both IMP deputy director and representative of the Birnstiel Foundation. Max Birnstiel's daughter Kirsty Birnstiel presented some insights on her father's personality and convictions, with her brother Marcus Birnstiel also attended the ceremony. The awards were presented by members of the selection committee.
2022 Ceremony
Finally fully back in person at the IMP lecture hall, the Birnstiel Award 2022 was awarded to Margarete Diaz Cuadros (Harvard Medical School), Christy Hong (University Medical Center Groningen), Ioannis Sarropoulos (Heidelberg University), Marta Seczynska (University of Cambridge), Michael Skinnider (University of British Columbia), and Zhexin Wang (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology).
Photos: Ludwig Schedl.
The award ceremony was chaired by Meinrad Busslinger in his double-role as both IMP deputy director and representative of the Birnstiel Foundation. The awards were handed out by Kirsty Birnstiel, who shared her personal view on her father Max and his committment to nourishing curious minds. In addition to the talks of the six laureates, two invited speakers tied previous nominations into the Birnstiel Award's long-term goal to create a distinction and community of young leaders in the molecular life sciences: the work of Liudmila Andreeva (Harvard Medical School) and Christopher Reinkemeier (ETH Zurich) had been followed by IMP faculty since their nominations in previous years.
2021 ceremony
In its third edition, the Birnstiel Award 2021 again celebrated outstanding talent from around the world, this time back on-site at the IMP on 2 December 2021: Sanne Boersma (Hubrecht Institute), Fanny Matheis (The Rockefeller University), Adi Millman (Weizmann Institute of Science), Sanne van Neerven (Amsterdam University Medical Centers and Oncode Institute), Kristina Stapornwongkul (University College London/The Francis Crick Institute), and Gregor Weiss (ETH Zurich).
Photos: Ouriel Morgensztern
The awards with trophies and certificates were presented by Meinrad Busslinger (IMP Deputy Director and trustee of the Birnstiel Foundation) and Andrea Pauli (IMP and member of this year's selection panel). The acceptance talks were recorded and can be watched here.
2020 ceremony
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic did not allow for an award ceremony to be held on-site. The six laureates instead recorded their acceptance talks, trophies and certificates had been mailed to them before then.
2019 ceremony
The first award ceremony of the International Birnstiel Award for Doctoral Research in the Molecular Life Sciences was convened at the IMP lecture hall on 8 November 2019.
Photos: Ludwig Schedl
Emily Bayer, Mohamed El-Brolosy and Justin Silpe received a trophy and certificate from Margaret Birnstiel. The ceremony was chaired by Meinrad Busslinger, deputy director of the IMP and trustee of the Birnstiel Foundation. Max Birnstiel's widow Margaret Birnstiel - herself a biologist - attended the event and handed over the trophies and certificates.
The acceptance talks were recorded and can be watched here.