Max-Planck-Forschungspreisträger Prof. Dr. Martin Wikelski (2.v.r.) bei der Preisverleihung mit der zweiten Preisträgerin Prof. Dr. Bonnie L. Bassler, Mikrobiologin an der Universität Princeton (2.v.l.), mit Bundesministerin Prof. Dr. Johanna Wanka (Mitte), dem Präsidenten der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Prof. Dr. Martin Stratmann (links), sowie dem Präsidenten der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Prof. Dr. Helmut Schwarz (rechts).

Presentation of the Max Planck Research Award

Professor Martin Wikelski, honorary professor at the University of Konstanz and director of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (Radolfzell and Seewiesen), was awarded the Max Planck Research Award 2016 at an event held last Tuesday evening, 25 October 2016, at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

The joint award administered by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Max Planck Society includes a prize money of 750,000 euros and was presented by the Federal Minister for Education and Research, Professor Johanna Wanka, the president of the Max Planck Society, Professor Martin Startmann and the president of the Humboldt Foundation, Professor Helmut Schwarz, who also delivered the laudatio on the Konstanz biologist. In it, he compared Martin Wikelski with Humboldt and praised his concern for “the grand whole”, for understanding the universal relationships that govern our planet, a planet Wikelski has described as a “single pulsating organism”. Martin Wikelski, who has worked at the University of Konstanz since 2008, was recognised for his research on the interactions of animals and their environments. The long-term goal of his research is to observe life on earth by monitoring the behaviour of animals, particularly the migrations of small animals, which will, in turn, allow scientists to predict natural disasters or outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola.