2026 Leibniz prizes awarded to three Max Planck scientists
Klaus Blaum, Christian Doeller, and Johannes Krause have been honoured with Germany’s top research prize
The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Germany’s most prestigious research award, comes with €2.5 million in funding and has been awarded annually since 1986 by the German Research Foundation (DFG). To date, 465 scientists have received the prize — 384 men and 81 women. The award ceremony will take place in Berlin on 18 March 2026.
A physicist with a passion for precision
Physicist Klaus Blaum, based at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, is driven by a passion for precision. His work focuses on making highly accurate measurements in atomic and nuclear physics.
His research aims to achieve three key goals: determining fundamental physical constants with greater accuracy, testing the symmetries and forces of nature more precisely, and subjecting the Standard Model of particle physics to rigorous experimental tests. To achieve this, he confines individual ions in superimposed electric and magnetic fields and measures their properties, including their masses and magnetic moments.
Blaum has already delivered groundbreaking results in the investigation of matter and antimatter differences, including the most precise comparison to date of the charge‑to‑mass ratios of protons and antiprotons.
In atomic physics, he also tested and confirmed theoretical predictions for the magnetic moment of an electron in a hydrogen-like tin ion with unprecedented accuracy. He also led the world’s most accurate measurement of the maximum energy released during the radioactive decay of Holmium-163, a crucial result for global efforts to determine the absolute mass of elusive neutrinos.
How do the human brain and thought processes function?
This question has guided psychologist Christian Doeller’s research for decades. Working at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Doeller stands as a leading figure in memory research.
His work has dramatically transformed our understanding of spatial cognition: the brain’s ability to orient, perceive, and act within environments. Doeller demonstrated that the brain can recode spatial relationships into abstract categories. This process, he showed, forms the neural basis for logical reasoning, inference, and decision-making.
Among his key developments, Doeller created advanced neuroimaging analysis methods. These allowed him to detect signals in the human brain for the first time that correspond to grid cells. Previously discovered in rats, these cells provide animals with a cognitive coordinate system used to map their position. Doeller’s insights contribute to a better understanding of how and why disorders of the human brain lead to specific impairments in spatial memory and cognitive function, opening new pathways for diagnosis and treatment.
Where did historical infectious agents and diseases originate?
How did they spread and evolve? Biochemist Johannes Krause from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology has managed to reconstruct part of this past. A key milestone came when Krause identified the bacterium Yersinia pestis as the causative agent of the Black Death. This discovery helped establish the field of ancient pathogen genomics, which uniquely integrates questions from both the natural sciences and the humanities.
Since then, Krause has successfully decoded the genetic signatures of a range of historical pathogens from human remains, including the bacteria and parasites responsible for diseases like plague, tuberculosis, malaria, and hepatitis.
By combining ancient DNA with historical sources from the Tianshan region, Krause and his team were able to date the beginning of the second plague pandemic to 1338–1339 and locate its origins in Central Asia. Further studies involve reconstructing (pre-) historical settlement histories across different continents. His work provides vital insight into how infectious diseases have accompanied and helped shape human history, helping to correct long-held Eurocentric perspectives in favour of a more global view of historical mechanisms.
“I’m deeply honoured by this award,” said Krause. “It recognises the collective effort of our team, using archaeogenetics to uncover the genetic stories of past cultures and the evolution of pathogens. This recognition fuels our mission to explore human history and disease through new scientific lenses.”
A launchpad for Nobel success
The Leibniz Prize has a long history of launching the careers of Nobel laureates, serving as a prestigious recognition of outstanding scientific achievement. So far, two female and ten male Leibniz laureates have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.
Among them are the following Max Planck researchers: Hartmut Michel (Chemistry, 1988), Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann (Medicine, 1991), Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (Medicine, 1995), Theodor W. Hänsch (Physics, 2005), Gerhard Ertl (Chemistry, 2007), Stefan W. Hell (Chemistry, 2014), Emmanuelle Charpentier and Reinhard Genzel (Chemistry and Physics, 2020), Benjamin List (Chemistry, 2021), Svante Pääbo (Medicine, 2022), and Ferenc Krausz (Physics, 2023).
