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This release is available in German.

This years winners of Germanys top research prize for young scientists have been announced. Among the six recipients of the 2008 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize are two young women. The prizewinners were selected by the Executive Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) in Bonn at its March session, following nomination by the relevant selection committee from among 76 candidates.

The winners of the 2008 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize, named after the former President of the DFG and atomic physicist Professor Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, are:

• Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff, political science, Technical University of Darmstadt

• Dr. Andr Fischer, neurobiology, University of Gttingen

• Dr. Torsten Granzow, material science, Technical University of Darmstadt

• Dr. Michael Huber, discrete mathematics, University of Tbingen

• Dr. Christine Silberhorn, quantum optics, University of Erlangen-Nrnberg

• Dr. Oliver Trapp, analytical chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Carbon Research, Mlheim/Ruhr

Promoting young researchers is not only one of the tasks set out in the DFGs statutes, but also one that is particularly important to us, the President of the DFG, Professor Matthias Kleiner, emphasised on the occasion of the announcement. The winners of this years prize have, once again, demonstrated how young scientists can build up an impressive independent research profile with excellent research achievements even at a relatively young age.

The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize has been awarded to young researchers annually since 1977 to promote the further development of such outstanding independent profiles. From the DFGs point of view, the prize is simultaneously a form of recognition of past achievements and an incentive to co
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