Birnstiel Award: international competition of best PhD students
A new research award seeks to honour the World’s most outstanding PhD projects in molecular life sciences from the past year. The international "Birnstiel Award" is a joint initiative of Max Birnstiel Foundation and the IMP. The call is open until 30 June 2019.
The International Birnstiel Award for Doctoral Research in Molecular Life Sciences will recognise exceptional achievements of up to three PhD students in molecular life sciences from anywhere in the world. The call for the inaugural awards opened now, nominations can be submitted by 30 June 2019. It is the goal of the initiative to establish a community of outstanding talent in molecular life sciences and to celebrate the research successes of young, up-and-coming scientists.
Awardees will attend the Vienna BioCenter PhD Symposium in Vienna (Austria) on 7 and 8 November 2019. On this occasion, the awardees will present their work to an international audience of distinguished biologists and will each receive a trophy, certificate and cash prize of 2,000 euros. In addition, all travel and accommodation expenses of the awardees for the symposium will be covered.
The International Birnstiel Award, named after the IMP’s founding director, targets doctoral students at an advanced stage of their PhD research who have contributed to make an outstanding discovery in their field. The selection committee comprises four senior scientists and will evaluate the application materials according to their scientific quality, originality and impact in molecular life sciences.
Only one nomination may be submitted per department or programme. The nomination must be submitted by an authorised person, typically a department chair or PhD programme manager. Students who completed their PhD research at Austrian institutions are exempted from the Birnstiel Award as they are eligible for other awards in Austria.
A nomination will comprise the nominee’s CV, a description of the PhD research project and one recommendation letter from the student’s supervisor. Detailed specifications - and as of mid-May the nomination form - are available on the IMP’s website at: