Since 2020, the GfÖ Prize has been awarded every two years to honor a young scientist at postdoctoral level in the field of ecology for his or her outstanding contribution to the promotion of ecological research. The successful candidate must have completed his or her doctoral thesis within the last six years and generally not yet have a permanent position at the time of nomination.

• Call for nominations: GfÖ Prize - Deadline: 31. Januar 2026

  The GfÖ Award is endowed with a prize money of typically 10,000 € (deviation may occur depending on the financial situation of the GfÖ). The award is given during the annual conference of the GfÖ. The winner of the GfÖ Prize has to present the work for which the prize is provided in person (20 min) during the GfÖ award session at the annual conference. The winner’s travel expenses, accommodation and conference costs will be covered (adhering to the guidelines of the Federal Travel Expenses Act (Bundesreisekostengesetz)).

  The jury’s decision is based on the following criteria:

  • Scientific quality proven through an excellent publication record in an ecological research field and proven activities to develop an own research agenda in the field of ecological research (e.g., through third-party funding, establishment of working groups or networks)
  • Communicative quality proven through active participation in conferences and/or the lead of symposia including networking and outreach activities.
  • Commitment to promoting young researchers through activities such as initiating or supporting initiatives in the field of ecological research, providing above-average support in teaching and/or supervision of final year candidates or trainees or the (co-)development of workshops or summer schools.

  Nominations for the GfÖ prize are made by GfÖ members to the GfÖ board. Self-nominations are not possible. The nominations should include the name, the current working address along with the e-mail address. In addition, please provide a CV of the nominee, your two-to-three page evaluation in which you provide a clear statement for each of the three criteria mentioned above. Please submit this information in one single PDF document online via the GfÖ Website until 31 January. It is not possible to nominate persons after the submission deadline.

• Submit now!

  Proposal for the GfÖ - Prize 2025

  You can use this form to submit a proposal for funding or an award. Please provide information about yourself as the submitting person as well as about the proposed person.

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  Application documents / proposal:

  Nomination documents (max. 25MB; format: PDF):  *Please submit a pdf document: Nominations should include the nominees first and last name, current work address and e-mail address. Please also include a short CV of the nominee. Your two- to three-page evaluation, in which you make a precise assessment for each of the three criteria listed in the call for nominations. The files must be smaller than 25 MB. Permitted file extensions: pdf.

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  Declaration of consent:

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  I agree that in the event of a prize being awarded in one of the possible categories, the name and institution of the nominating person as well as the prizewinner and the title of the award-winning work/photo may be published on the GfÖ homepage and in the GfÖ newsletter.

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  Submit now!

current award winner 2024:

Dr. Rachel Oh Rui Ying

Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research GmbH - UFZ /
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Deutschland

... for her outstanding contribution to advance the
field of ecological research focusing on investigating
linkages of biodiversity and human health and
wellbeing.

• The previous winners of the GfÖ Prize

  GfÖ Prize 2022

  The GfÖ Prize 2022 goes to Dr. Tobias Sandner from the University of Marburg, Germany.

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  GfÖ Prize 2020

  The GfÖ Prize 2020 goes to Dr. Bea Maas from the University of Vienna, Austria.