You're a PhD student at the DPZ?
Then apply for the PhD Thesis Award!
PhD students at the DPZ who have successfully completed their doctoral thesis in the three sections Infection Research, Neuroscience and Organismic Primate Biology in 2020 are eligible to apply.
Entitled for application are all doctoral students of the DPZ who successfully completed their thesis in 2020 in one of the three research sections.
Applications (in English or German as a PDF via e-mail) must be submitted by January 31, 2021 with the following documents:
• Thesis including information on the starting and end date, supervisor, grade
• Summary of the most important findings of the work
• CV including:
- List of publications (‘published’ or/ and ‘in press’)
- List of presentations (talks and posters)
Please send applications to the chairman of Sponsorship Society, Prof. Dr. Eberhard Fuchs (efuchs(at)gwdg.de). He will forward the applications to the spokesperson of each research section. The selection of the best thesis will be carried out in each section via an internal and independent process.
Each winner receives 500 Euros.
The prizes will be awarded in the first quarter 2021.

A prize for the best doctoral thesis (DPZ Sponsorship Award) was first awarded in 1988. This prize was replaced in 2020 by the PhD Thesis Award awarded by the DPZ Sponsorship Society.
Award winners
Year | Winner | Institute, Research Group | Research Field |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | Dr. Pooja Viswanathan | University Tübingen, Institute of Neurobiology | Neuronal basics of the sense of numbers in primates |
2017 | Dr. Benjamin Dann | German Primate Center, Neurobiology Laboratory | Encoding, coordination, and decision making in the primate frontoparietal grasping network |
2016 | Dr. Marlen Fröhlich | Max-Planck-Institut für Ornithologie, Seewiesen | Communicative complexity and development in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) in the wild |
2015 | Dr. Gisela Kopp | German Primate Center, Cognitive Ethology Laboratory | Relationship between genes and behavior |
2015 | Dr. Birgit Westernstroer | University Hospital Münster, Centre of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology | Stem cells in the testicles of mice, common marmosets and humans |
2014 | Dr. Lydia Luncz | Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie Leipzig, Abteilung für Primatologie | Kulturelle Unterschiede in benachbarten Schimpansengruppen |
2014 | Dr. Stefan Schaffelhofer | Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Abteilung Neurobiologie | Vom Auge zur Hand: Kortikale Prozesse zur Planung und Ausführung von Handbewegungen |
2013 | Dr. Simon Jacob | Charité Berlin, Psychiatrische Klinik | Neuronale Mechanismen exekutiver Funktionen im Präfrontalkortex von Rhesusaffen: Physiologie und Pharmakologie |
2012 | Dr. Vanessa Schmidt | German Primate Center, Cognitive Ethology Laboratory | Social and Physical cognition in Old World Monkeys |
2011 | Dr. Martin Surbeck | MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Primatology | Maternal support, dominance status and mating success in male Bonobos |
2011 | Dr. Stephanie Westendorff | German Primate Center, Sensorimotor Group | Cortical rule-based action plans in Rhesus Monkeys |
2010 | Dr. Vittorio Caggiano | MIT, McGovern Institute for Brain Research | Towards a quantitative analysis of mirror neurons in the monkey cortical premotor area F5 |
2009 | Dr. Christian Puller | Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, Faculty of Biological Sciences | The synaptic architecture of the cone pedicle in the primate retina |
2008 | Dr. Sebastian Möller | University of Bremen, Brain Research Institute | Functional anatomy of the Rhesus Macaque face processing system |
2007 | Dr. Laura Busse | German Primate Center, Cognitive Neuroscience | Effects of selective attention on sensory processing of visual motion |
2006 | Dr. Steffen Hage | German Primate Center, Neurobiology Department | On the role of the pontine brainstem in vocal pattern generation. A telemetric single-unit recording study in the Squirrel Monkey |
2005 | Dr. Antje Engelhardt | German Primate Center, Reproductive Biology Unit | The significance of male and female reproductive strategies for male reproductive success in wild longtailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) |
2004 | Dr. Christian Roos | German Primate Center, Primate Genetics Laboratory | Molecular evolution of the Strepsirrhini |
2003 | Dr. Maarten Kole | German Primate Center, Clinical Neurobiology Laboratory | Analysis of stress-induced adaptations of Ca3 pyramidal neurons |
2002 | - | - | - |
2001 | Dr. Claudia Fichtel | German Primate Center, Neurobiology Department | Emotional correlates in vocalizations of primates |
2000 | Dr. Joanna Fietz | German Primate Center, Ethology and Ecology Department | Population ecology and social organisation of the Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur |
1999 | Dr. Michael Spring | German Primate Center, Virology and Immunology Department | SIV-induced immune pathogenesis of the Rhesus Macaque: The importance of the activation and apoptosis of the virus-specific T-lymphocytes |
1998 | Dr. Stefanie Heiduck | German Primate Center, Ethology and Ecology Department | Foraging strategies of Masked Titi Monkeys |
1997 | Dr. Jutta Schmid | German Primate Center, Ethology and Ecology Division | Torpor of the Grey Mouse Lemur in Madagaskar: Energetic consequences and ecological impact |
1996 | Dr. Susanne Krasemann | German Primate Center, Virology and Immunology Division | Induction of antibodies against human prion proteins by DNA-mediated immunisation of PrP-0/0-mice |
1995 | Dr. Ulf Dittmer | German Primate Center, Virology and Immunology Division | Cellular immune response of Macaques infected with pathogenes of SIV- and HIV-2 immunodeficiency viruses |
1994 | - | - | - |
1993 | Dr. Dietmar Zinner | German Primate Center, Ecology Working Group | Breeding and Feeding competition in Hamadryas Baboons. An experimental study |
1992 | Dr. Olaf Jöhren | German Primate Center, Neurobiology Department | Glucocorticoid receptor gene expression in the brain of Tupaia nelangeri |
1991 | Dr. Gerald Voss | German Primate Center, Virology and Immunology Division | Characterization of the cellular immune response of HIV-2-infected Long-tailed Macaques and SIV-mac-immunized and -infected Rhesus Macaques |
1990 | Dr. Frank Kirchhoff | German Primate Center, Virology and Immunology Division | Insulation and biological and genetic characterization of HIV-2-clones for investigating the negative regulatory factor and of chimerias between HIV-2- and HIV-1-coat-protein |
1989 | Dr. Eckhard Heymann | German Primate Center, Ethology Working Group | Field studies on the behavior and ecology of Tamarines |
1988 | Dr. Gabriele Flügge | German Primate Center, Reproduction Biology Working Group | Adrenergic receptors in the brain of Tupaia |