Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award for Innovations in the Computational Sciences
The prize honors and supports researchers advancing Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, and Neuro-inspired Computing, all with the goal of enabling scientific discovery for the benefit of humanity.
About the Award
The founder of the chemical and pharmaceutical company E. Merck in Darmstadt, Heinrich Emanuel Merck (1794–1855), was not just a manufacturer and salesman but also deeply engaged in scientific research. The advanced scientific education he received was highly unusual for the time, reflecting his passion for innovation. In 1816, Heinrich Emanuel Merck took over the Engel Apotheke pharmacy in Darmstadt, which his family had owned since 1668. His groundbreaking experiments to isolate and characterize all of the known alkaloids led to the start of bulk production in 1827, a venture that met with immediate success. In his "Cabinet of pharmaceutical and chemical innovations," Heinrich Emanuel Merck presented 16 alkaloids for scientific experiments, which he shared with fellow experts and doctors. Heinrich Emanuel Merck earned a reputation among his customers for the exceptional purity of the alkaloids he sold.
This spirit of scientific curiosity and innovation inspired the establishment of the Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award. First awarded in 1988, the prize celebrated excellence in analytical chemistry, honoring scientists who developed new analytical methods in chemistry. Since 2025, the award has shifted focus to recognize innovations in computational sciences, reflecting the transformative impact of these fields. The prize now honors and supports researchers advancing Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, and Neuro-inspired Computing, all with the goal of enabling scientific discovery for the benefit of humanity. The award includes a fund of 15,000 euros to encourage these groundbreaking efforts.
Key Facts
- The award is presented every two years. The deadline for applications for the 2024 award was 7 October 2024.
- Eligibility criteria: Researchers who are developing innovative solution in domains at the forefront of innovation in computing: artificial intelligence, quantum computing, neuro-inspired computing - all with the aim to enable scientific discovery
- Who can apply: Researchers that fit the eligibility criteria. Healthcare Professionals are ineligible for this award.
- Application documents: Applicants need to fill out an application at our application portal (www.researchgrantsandchallenges.com). Documents include a recent CV and a description of cutting edge research and results (no older than 3 years)
- Award ceremony: The recipients of the Heinrich Emanuel Merck award are asked to present their research at an award ceremony.
- The award comes with a 15,000 EUR prize.
History of the award
The Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award for the Analytical Sciences was conceived in 1988 to recognize research in the analytical sciences. The final award in analytical sciences was awarded in 2022.
Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award for Analytical Sciences (1988-2022)
Year | Name | University/company | Country | Distinguished project |
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2022 | Dr. Valérie Gabelica | Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie (Univ. Bordeaux, INSERM & CNRS) | France | Advancing mass spectrometry to study nucleic acid structures and interactions |
2019 | Prof. David Alsteens | UC Louvain | Belgium | Probing ligand binding to native membrane receptors in physiologically relevant conditions using AFM |
2017 | Prof. Francesco Ricci | University of Rome | Italy | DNA-Based Beacon for Single-Step Fluorescence Detection of Proteins |
2015 | Prof. Petra Dittrich | ETH Zürich | Switzerland | Microfluidic analytical platforms |
2012 | Prof. Aaron R. Wheeler | University of Toronto | Canada | Droplet-scale estrogen assays in breast tissue |
2010 | Prof. Luisa Torsi | Bari University | Italy | Organic sensitivity-enhanced field-effect sensors for determination of chiral compounds |
2007 | Dr. Alexander Makarov | Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen | Germany | Performance evaluation of a hybrid linear ion trap/orbitrap mass spectrometer |
2007 | Prof. Dr. Shuming Nie | Emory University, Atlanta | USA | In vivo cancer targeting and imaging with semiconductor quantum dots |
2004 | Prof. Yoshinobu Baba | University of Tokushima | Japan | Nanospheres for DNA separation chips |
2002 | Prof. Jonathan V. Sweedler | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | USA | Measuring the peptides in individual organelles with mass spectrometry |
2000 | Prof. Norman Dovichi | University of Alberta |
Canada |
A multiple-capillary electrophoresis system for small-scale DNA sequencing and analysis |
1998 | Prof. Renato Zenobi | ETH Zurich | Switzerland | Laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry |
1996 | Prof. D. Jed Harrison | University of Alberta | Canada | Micromachining a miniaturized capillary electrophore-based chemical analysis system on a chip |
1996 | Prof. Andreas Manz | Imperial College London | Great Britain | Micromachining a miniaturized capillary electrophore-based chemical analysis system on a chip |
1993 | Prof. Aviv Amirav | Tel Aviv University | Israel | Pulsed-flame photometer : a novel gas chromatography detector |
1990 | Dr. Scott Bidlingmeyer |
Millipore Corporation | USA | Liquid chromatography detectors |
1990 | Prof. Reinhard Nießner | Technical University of Munich | Germany | The photoelectric aerosol sensor array applied to heavy metal aerosols |
1988 | Prof. Masataka Hiraide | Nagoya University | Japan | Separation of trace elements from high-purity metals |
1988 | Prof. Otto S. Wolfbeis | Graz University | Austria | Fluorescence sensors |
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