Do studies on primates play a central role in your doctoral thesis? Then apply for the DPZ Support Association's PhD award, supported by the MacLean-Erkelenz Foundation!
The DPZ PhD Award is endowed with €1,000. PhD students at a university in Germany who have successfully completed their doctoral thesis in 2025 are eligible to apply. We welcome applications from young researchers in various biological and biomedical disciplines if non-human primates are an indispensable part of their work. This could be, for example, a behavioral study in the field, a research project to understand the basic functions of the brain, or an infection biology study for vaccine development.
Electronic applications (as a PDF via email) are requested by January 31, 2026, in German or English with the following documents:
- A summary of the main results and a description of the scientific added value of the work, understandable to laypersons (maximum 1 page)
- Details on the start and end date of the thesis, your supervisor and the final grade
- A short scientific CV
- A list of publications (with impact factor and ranking of the journal in the respective field)
- A list of your presentations (lectures and posters)
The documents should be sent to the chair of the Support Association, Prof. Dr. Christian Roos.
The Scientific Advisory Board of the German Primate Center will select the best thesis.
The award ceremony will take place in the first half of 2026.
A prize for the best doctoral thesis (DPZ sponsorship award) was first awarded in 1988. In 2023, this prize was replaced by the DPZ Support Association award, supported by the MacLean-Erkelenz Foundation.
PhD award winners
Below you will find all the award-winning works since the introduction of the prize
| Year | Winner | Institute, Department | Research area |
| 2024 | Max Crayen | German Primate Center, Dep. Cognitive Neuroscience | Perceptual errors in color and motion - Integration of visual features in humans and macaques |
| 2023 | Dr. Liye Zhang | German Primate Center, Dep. Primate Genetics | Hybridization between species and the adaptation of monkeys to their habitats |
| 2022 | Zurna Ahmed | German Primate Center, Dep. Cognitive Neuroscience | Neural bases of natural movements |
| 2021 | Nikoloz Sirmpilatze | German Primate Center, Dep. Functional Imaging | Functional imaging of the anesthetized brain in primates and rodents |
| 2020 | Dr. Delphine De Moor | German Primate Center, Research Group Social Evolution in Primates | The importance of paternal kinship relationships in Assam macaques |
| 2020 | Dr. Prerna Aurora | German Primate Center, Dep. Infection Biology | Development of a new therapeutic approach in the fight against the influenza virus |
| 2018 | Dr. Pooja Viswanathan | University of Tübingen, Institute for Neurobiology | Neural basis of numerical sense in primates |
| 2017 | Dr. Benjamin Dann | German Primate Center, Dep. Neurobiology | Coding and coordination of information in the primate brain's grasping network |
| 2016 | Dr. Marlen Fröhlich | Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen | Gestural communication in chimpanzees and bonobos |
| 2015 | Dr. Gisela Kopp | German Primate Center, Dep. Cognitive Ethology | The influence of the social system on the genetic structure of baboons |
| 2015 | Dr. Birgit Westernströer | University Medicine Münster, Center for Reproductive Medicine and Andrology | Testicular stem cells as a therapeutic option for male infertility |
| 2014 | Dr. Stefan Schaffelhofer | German Primate Center, Dep. Neurobiology | From the eye to the hand: cortical processes for planning and executing hand movements |
| 2014 | Dr. Lydia Luncz | Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department for Primatology | Cultural differences in neighboring chimpanzee groups |
| 2013 | Dr. Simon Jacob | Charité Berlin, Psychiatric Clinic | Neural mechanisms of executive functions in the prefrontal cortex of rhesus monkeys: physiology and pharmacology |
| 2012 | Dr. Vanessa Schmitt | German Primate Center, Dep. Cognitive Ethology | Social and physical cognition in Old World monkeys |
| 2011 | Dr. Martin Surbeck | MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig, Department for Primatology | Influence of social rank and maternal support on the mating success of male bonobos |
| 2011 | Dr. Stephanie Westendorff | German Primate Center, Research Group Sensorimotor | Movement plans in the cortex of rhesus monkeys |
| 2010 | Dr. Vittorio Caggiano | MIT, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Cambridge, USA | Towards a quantitative analysis of mirror neurons in the monkey cortical premotor area F5 |
| 2009 | Dr. Christian Puller | Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, Department of Biological Sciences | Synaptic architecture of the cone foot in the primate retina |
| 2008 | Dr. Sebastian Möller | University of Bremen, Brain Research Institute | Functional anatomy of facial perception in rhesus monkeys |
| 2007 | Dr. Laura Busse | German Primate Center, Cognitive Neurosciences | The influence of selective attention on sensory processing of visual motion |
| 2006 | Dr. Steffen Hage | German Primate Center, Neurobiology | Audiovocal integration and vocal motor control in the pontine brainstem. Telemetric single-cell recording in freely moving squirrel monkeys |
| 2005 | Dr. Antje Engelhardt | German Primate Center, Reproductive Biology | 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 | Molecular evolution of prosimians (Strepsirrhini) |
| 2003 | Dr. Maarten Kole | German Primate Center, Clinical Neurobiology | Analysis of stress-induced adaptations of CA3 pyramidal neurons |
| 2001 | Dr. Claudia Fichtel | German Primate Center, Neurobiology | Emotional correlates in primate vocalization |
| 2000 | Dr. Joanna Fietz | German Primate Center, Verhaltensforschung/Ökologie | Die soziale Organisation des Fettschwanzmakis (Cheirogaleus medius) |
| 1999 | Dr. Michael Spring | German Primate Center, Virologie und Immunologie | Charakterisierung von Veränderungen in Lymphozyten aus SIV infizierten Rhesusmakaken während der Immunpathogenese |
| 1998 | Dr. Stefanie Heiduck | German Primate Center, Behavioral Research/Ecology | Feeding strategies of black-headed tamarins (Callicebus personatus melanochir) |
| 1997 | Dr. Jutta Schmid | German Primate Center, Behavioral Research/Ecology | Torpor in the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) in Madagascar: Energetic consequences and ecological significance. |
| 1996 | Dr. Susanne Krasemann | German Primate Center, Virology and Immunology | Production of monoclonal antibodies against human prion proteins by DNA-mediated immunization of PrP°-° mice |
| 1995 | Dipl. Biol. Ulf Dittmer | German Primate Center, Virology and Immunology | The importance of the virus-specific cellular immune response in vaccine protection and the pathogenesis of SIV- and HIV-2-infected macaques |
| 1994 | - | - | - |
| 1993 | Dr. Dietmar Zinner | German Primate Center, Behavioral Research/Ecology | Breeding and food competition in hamadryas baboons. An experimental study. |
| 1992 | Dr. Olaf Jöhren | German Primate Center, Neurobiology | Representation of glucocorticoid receptor expression in the brain of Tupaia belangeri |
| 1991 | Dr. Gerald Voss | German Primate Center, Virology and Immunology | Characterization of the cellular immune response in HIV-2-infected Javanese monkeys and SIV-mac immunized and infected rhesus monkeys |
| 1990 | Dr. Frank Kirchhoff | German Primate Center, Virology and Immunology | Isolation and biological and genetic characterization of an HIV-2 clone for investigation of the negative regulatory factor and chimeras between HIV-2 and the HIV-1 envelope protein |
| 1989 | Dr. Eckhard Heymann | German Primate Center, AG Ethologie | Field study on the behavior and ecology of tamarins |
| 1988 | Dr. Gabriele Flügge | German Primate Center, Reproductive Biology | Adrenergic receptors in the brain of Tupaia |
K. Tilch