Two Berlin Researchers Honored with Prestigious Leibniz Prize

Two Berlin-based scientists have been named among the winners of the 2025 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Germany's most important research award. According to a press release from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Prof. Dr. Ana Pombo from the Max Delbrück Center and Prof. Dr. Volker Haucke from the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) are among the ten distinguished researchers receiving this honor.

Prof. Pombo has developed groundbreaking methods to map the three-dimensional organization of chromosomal DNA in individual cells. Her pioneering work has revealed crucial contacts within and between chromosomes, leading to new understandings of gene regulation and cellular structures that could improve our comprehension of disease processes.

After studying biochemistry in Lisbon and earning her doctorate at Oxford, Pombo worked at Imperial College London before joining the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin in 2013, where she now serves as Vice Director for Research while also holding a professorship at Humboldt University Berlin.

Prof. Haucke's research focuses on the mechanisms enabling nerve cell function, particularly the process of endocytosis—how cells take up substances from their environment by folding their membrane. His insights into neuronal protein complexes and lipid signals have already led to the development of potential anti-cancer drug candidates.

Volker Haucke studied biochemistry at FU Berlin and earned his doctorate at the University of Basel. Following postdoctoral work at Yale University, he worked at the University of Göttingen before returning to FU Berlin as a biochemistry professor. Since 2012, he has directed the Berlin Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology.

The Leibniz Programme, established in 1985, provides each winner with up to €2.5 million to expand their research opportunities and employ promising early career researchers.