Otto Schmeil Award

The Schmeil Foundation (external link) established the Otto Schmeil Award in 2016 to support early-career researchers in biological and medical research.
It is awarded every two years by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and is endowed with 15,000 euros.

The Otto Schmeil Award is awarded every two years.

Who is eligible for nomination?

The award is awarded to a young researcher who already possesses the necessary qualifications and has produced outstanding scientific work. The proposed work must have been published or submitted for publication within the preceding two years.

Candidates nominated for the award must be no older than 40 years of age. If several candidates have contributed equally to a work, the award may be awarded to them in equal shares.

Who may submit nominations?

All members of the Mathematical and Natural Sciences class of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The leadership of all scientific institutions at universities in Baden-Württemberg (rectors, deans, Managing Directors, institute directors)
the leadership of all non-university research institutions in Baden-Württemberg (Managing Directors)
Self-nominations are not permitted

The Donor

Otto Schmeil (external link) (1860–1943), like his father and grandfather, pursued a career as a teacher. At that time, there was a significant gap between the state of knowledge in biology and teacher training. In his field, Otto Schmeil was one of the first to use detailed and vivid illustrations to make even complex topics in biology easier to understand.

Schmeil’s textbooks for natural science classes emphasized observing nature and discovering causal relationships.
Schmeil’s books *Der Mensch* and *Pflanzenkunde* quickly gained widespread popularity. Even today, they are among the best-selling textbooks worldwide. “Der Schmeil” has accompanied generations of students through their school years.

Otto Schmeil had three children: Johannes (1886–1957), Margarethe (1893–1976), and Werner (1896–1968). Johannes, the eldest, founded the Schmeil Foundation (external link), which was established to honor his father, Otto Schmeil, and his three sons who died in the war. In keeping with the professional paths of Otto and Johannes Schmeil, the foundation’s mission was established to support biological and medical research.

The Award Recipients

Since 2016, the award has been awarded every two years for outstanding work by scientists in the fields of medicine and biology.

All past award recipients:

Jahr	Name	Titel
2026	Hentzschel, Franziska	An atypical Arp2/3 complex is required for Plasmodium DNA segregation and malaria transmission
2024	Sepp, Mari	Zelluläre Entwicklung und Evolution des Kleinhirns von Säugetieren mittels Einzelzellsequenzierungstechnologien
2022	Bertolini, Matilde	Interactions between nascent proteins translated by adjacent ribosomes drive homomer assembly
2022	Fenzl, Kai	Interactions between nascent proteins translated by adjacent ribosomes drive homomer assembly
2020	Cardoso-Moreira, Margarida	Gene Expression across Mammalian Organ Development
2018	Haas, Simon	Revising classical models of hematopoietic stem cell commitment by single cell analyses""
2018	Velten, Lars	„Revising classical models of hematopoietic stem cell commitment by single cell analyses“
2016	Cryle, Max	Arbeiten zur Biosynthese von Glykopeptid Antibiotika

Nomination Deadline

Every two years, March 1–June 30

What must be submitted?

Cover sheet

Dokument

Vorblatt-Preise_0.docx
Justification for the proposal (maximum of two pages)
Curriculum Vitae
List of Publications
HAdW

The documents should be submitted as a single PDF file and sent to hadw[at]hadw-bw.de.

When will the decision be made?

The Academy will announce its decision at the beginning of the year. The award recipient and their mentor will be notified of the result in writing.

Do you have any questions?

You can reach us by phone at 06221 54-3265 or by email at hadw[at]hadw-bw.de .

If you wish to send the documents by mail, please send them to:

Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Executive office
Karlstraße 4
69117 Heidelberg