The Hertie Foundation provides impulses for social action and promotes progress in the fields of neuroscience, European integration and education. In the field of neurosciences, the Hertie Foundation is the largest private sponsor of brain research in Germany.

In order to recognize outstanding work of young neuroscientists and to support the next generation of researchers, the Hertie Foundation has established the Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientists Prize that is awarded every two years. The prize is named after the American Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel, a Viennese native, and aims to promote research in all fields of neuroscience in Europe.

The winner will be awarded € 50,000 for personal use as a recognition of his / her exceptional contribution to neuroscience research as well as up to €25,000 for future professional activities. These activities can take the shape of a mentorship or scientific collaboration with a world-leading scientist in his / her field or be spent in other forms to support the awardee’s career development, provided a corresponding agreement can be reached with the Hertie Foundation and the third party in question.

Candidates must be nominated by their university, research institute or an internationally renowned neuroscientist. Self-nomination is not possible.

The ideal candidates are European neuroscientists, under the age of 40. He or she should have proven outstanding competence and productivity in the neurosciences, as documented by multiple publications in leading scientific journals.

An international jury of leading neuroscientists will select the successful candidate based on the nomination documentation submitted. The decisive factor will be outstanding scientific productivity and creativity.

In the second phase the mentor will be selected at the recommendation of and in collaboration with the winner and in consultation with the Hertie-Foundation. This mentor shall support and encourage the winner’s scientific career over five years.

As of July 1st, 2010 the Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientists Prize 2011 will be offered Europe-wide. The official award of this prize for young academics offered every two years will then take place in the second half of 2011.

Deadline for the submission of nominations for the Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientists Prize 2011 is November 1st, 2010.

Contact

Alexander F. Grychtolik
Projektleiter Neurowissenschaften
Gemeinnützige Hertie-Stiftung
Grüneburgweg 105

60323 Frankfurt
Tel. +49 (69) 660 756-156

Fax +49 (69) 660 756-302
E-Mail:

Nominations must include the following documentation:

1. A letter of recommendation (not exceeding two written pages);
2. A curriculum vitae of the candidate, including date of birth and current address;
3. Publications I (list of the candidate’s publications);
4. Publications II (PDF files with three of the candidate’s most significant publications); and
5. Covering letter from the candidate (max. two pages stating what he/she expects to gain from the mentoring process and proposed mentor).

In 2009, the Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientists Prize was awarded for the very first time. In September 2009, an international jury selected Dr. Simon Fisher.
Simon Fisher, b. 1970, conducts research at Oxford University (Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics) and was made head of molecular neurosciences in 2002. His research focuses on how speech- and language-related genes influence the brain. In 1998, Simon Fischer and Anthony Monaco discovered that a family afflicted by speech-related disorders (articulation disorders) had a band on chromosome 7 that the scientists could link to the family’s language impairment. By conducting genetic tests on this family and another boy, who was not related to them but exhibited the same symptoms, they were able to identify a gene known as FOXP2 for the very first time. Simon Fisher has already received numerous scientific prizes and honours for his research performance. In 2008, for example, he held the London Royal Society’s Francis Crick Lecture.

The Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientists Prize was awarded to Simon Fisher at a gala ceremony at Zurich University on 6 October 2009. The mentoring programme linked to the prize will support his research into the relationship between genes, the brain and language.