Prof. Agnieszka Chacińska of the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw and Prof. Peter Rehling of the University Medical Centre in Göttingen have been named the winners of the 6th edition of the Nicolaus Copernicus Polish-German Research Award.
The award is given jointly by the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) and the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German equivalent of the National Science Centre. It is given since 2006, every two years, to honour scientists from Poland and Germany who have cooperated to achieve distinguished research accomplishment.
The winners of this year\'s edition have been recognized for conducting joint research (since 2001) leading to the discovery of key mechanisms of mitochondrial biogenesis. Each of the winners will receive a prize of EUR 100,000.
Agnieszka Chacińska is a graduate of the Faculty of Biology of the University of Warsaw. In 2000 she received a PhD in biochemistry at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics PAS in Warsaw. In the years 2001-2009 she worked at the University of Freiburg in Germany as a postdoctoral fellow and subsequently as an independent team leader. Since 2009 Agnieszka Chacińska works at the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw. She was awarded the title of a full professor in 2014. She is a recipient of prestigious grants, including WELCOME from the Foundation for Polish Science. Her research interests include biogenesis, transport and circulation of proteins within the cell.
The second winner, Prof. Peter Rehling is a graduate of the Ruhr University in Bochum, where he studied chemistry and biology. After two post-doctoral internships at Ruhr University in Bochum and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in San Diego in the United States he began research work at the University of Freiburg. He received the title of professor in 2007. For 10 years he has been associated with the University Medical Center Göttingen, where he serves as director of the Department for Biochemistry II. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including Young Investigator Award (2005) and the ERC Advanced Grant (2013).
The Nicolaus Copernicus Polish-German Research Award is awarded in competition covering all fields of inquiry. The winners are selected by a jury of distinguished scholars from Poland and Germany, appointed by FNP and DFG. Candidates for the award are proposed by the scientific community. In the 2016 edition, for the first time self-nominations were also considered. The jury evaluated 28 nominations.
The award ceremony will be held on 7 June 2016 in Warsaw.
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
ekr/ mrt/
tr. RL
