Przejdź do:

The Copernicus Award

The Polish-German Scientific Award


The purpose of the award is to give a distinction to the individuals most active in Polish-German scientific cooperation who have made exceptional research achievements as a result of that cooperation and who have attained significant successes in promoting young research personnel.

The Copernicus Award is a common undertaking between the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

The award is granted to academics on the basis of a competition, irrespective of their field of science. Candidates may be nominated by researchers having a doctoral degree who are employed at a Polish or German academic institution.

Candidates are academics who have at least a doctoral degree, are aged under 65, work at a Polish or German academic institutions, and at the time of the making of the award are engaged in a Polish-German scientific project.

Award winners are chosen from among the nominated candidates by a jury appointed by DFG and FNP.

Jury of the Copernicus Award (edition 2010 and 2012):
  • Prof Bärbel Friedrich (Humboldt Universität Berlin)
  • Prof. Rudolf Kawalla (Berg-Universität Freiberg)
  • Prof. Klaus Ziemer (Uniwersytet w Trewirze i Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie)
  • Prof. Karol Wysokiński (Uniwersytet Marii Curie Skłodowskiej w Lublinie)
  • Prof. January Weiner (Uniwersytet Jagielloński)
  • Prof. Mieczysław Mąkosza (Instytut Chemii Organicznej PAN w Warszawie)
The value of the award is currently 100 000 euro: 50 000 euro for each of two recipients (in 2006 and 2008 the value of the award was 50 000 euro). An award-winner from Poland receives 20 000 euro as a personal prize and the sum of 30 000 euro to be used for continuation of Polish-German cooperation, in particular for the support of young scientists.

Call closing date for submitting nominations for the 2012 edition was 31 July 2011.

The award is awarded once every two years.
  • The first competition took place in 2006, and the Copernicus Award presentation ceremony took place on 2 May 2006 at Max Liebermann Haus, Berlin.
  • The second edition of the competition took place in 2008. The presentation ceremony took place on 14 May 2008 at the Old Orangery (Royal Baths) in Warsaw. See photographs of the ceremony.
  • The third edition took place in 2010 and the presentation ceremony was held on 10 May 2010 at the Leibniz Hall of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Berlin.

Contact person for the Copernicus Award at the FNP is Tomasz Poprawka, PhD, Programme Officer
phone +48 22 845 95 42
e-mail: tomasz.poprawka@fnp.org.pl

Contact person for the Copernicus Award at the DFG is Philip Thelen
phone: +49 228/ 885 2663
e-mail: philip.thelen@dfg.de