Creating prospects for scientific careers
Applications for the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation Prize now open
2025/01/17
The Hans and Ria Messer Foundation will again be awarding the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation Prize in 2025. To mark the 100th birthday of Dr. Hans Messer this year, the foundation is doubling the prize money for 2025 to 100,000 euros. The application period ends on 28 February.

In 2025, the will once again award its Hans and Ria Messer Foundation by outstanding scientists at an early stage in their careers at the TU Darmstadt in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, economics, social sciences and humanities – this time with double the prize money. foundation prize to promote research and teaching
‘TU Darmstadt is delighted that the Hans and Ria Messer Foundation is honouring outstanding scientific achievements by early career researchers with the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation Prize and opening up new perspectives for their further scientific careers,’ says Franziska Lang, TU Vice President for Academic Careers.
Professors at TU Darmstadt are entitled to make proposals. Assistant professors also have the opportunity to nominate themselves for the award. Self-nominations are not accepted.
Here, two early career researchers report on the opportunities that the award has provided and the significance the prize has had and continues to have for their further academic careers:
Philipp Rosendahl, 2023 award winner, on the importance of the award for his academic career:
‘The award has enabled me to pursue projects with a higher research risk. These include, for example, the development of a rheometer built specifically for snow – a precision measuring device that measures the deformation behaviour of matter – which has not been able to receive third-party funding due to a lack of precedent. In addition, I was able to make my research results available to a broad specialist audience in the form of a web app for avalanche warning services. This would have been difficult to achieve without the award, because funding formats for research-related services are rare. The award has given me additional visibility, which I would now like to use specifically for my application to the Athene Young Investigator Excellence Programme at TU Darmstadt. The award has also led to both academic and unexpected personal encounters, such as a collaboration with the Department of System Reliability, Adaptive Structures, and Machine Acoustics at TU Darmstadt. Overall, the award is invaluable in promoting the often insufficient visibility of scientific achievements in early career phases and in celebrating corresponding successes.’
Meike Saul, 2021 award winner: ‘A decisive increase in my visibility’
What have you achieved through the Dr Hans Messer Foundation Award that you might not otherwise have achieved?
‘For me, the award was not only a valuable recognition of my research, but also a decisive increase in my visibility in the scientific community. It gave me the opportunity to pursue new lines of research that also entail a certain amount of risk. However, the insights that I was able to gain (including negative ones) have helped me to make progress in other research projects.’
How important do you think the prize is for scientists in the early stages of their careers at TU Darmstadt?
‘I consider the award to be very important for scientists in the early stages of their careers at TU Darmstadt. It motivates young researchers to be innovative and to pursue their ideas, while also providing valuable recognition of their scientific achievements. This can be crucial to retaining talent at the university and promoting research here.’
You are now a research group leader at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. What research activities do you still associate with TU Darmstadt today?
‘I am very pleased that some of my doctoral students will complete their dissertations at TU Darmstadt in the near future. It is always a fascinating moment when students present their research results in the form of a dissertation and celebrate the completion of an important chapter in their academic careers. It is great that they have the opportunity to complete their work at TU Darmstadt. Furthermore, I am grateful that I will continue to work closely with Professor Beatrix Süß despite my move to the UKE in Hamburg. Our cooperation will enable us to exploit synergies and advance innovative research projects.’
The award
The , presented by the Dr. Hans Messer Foundation Award (Dr. Hans Messer Foundation until 2024), is awarded annually to promote research and teaching for scientists in the early stages of their careers with outstanding achievements in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, economics, social sciences and humanities. Hans and Ria Messer Foundation
The Hans and Ria Messer Foundation promotes education and training as well as science and research throughout Germany. The foundation was established in 1978 by Dr Hans Messer and has been recognised as a charitable foundation since 1979. The foundation prize at TU Darmstadt was also introduced under the chairmanship of Dr Hans Messer. The foundation promotes research projects, supports scientific and school institutions and continuously awards education and research grants. The foundation has regularly awarded its foundation prize at the TU Darmstadt since 1994. It is currently the most highly endowed prize for early career researchers at the TU Darmstadt.
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