HEINZ PENIN AWARD for Epilepsy Research

Early career researchers who completed their award-worthy work within a scientific research group at the University of Bonn or at a non-university research institution within Bonn, and who have not yet obtained their doctorate at the time of the annual award announcement, or whose doctoral work (regardless of the field) was completed no more than six years ago (the date on the doctoral certificate applies). Periods of childcare during this timeframe are taken into account according to DFG criteria.

• Detailed curriculum vitae (Download: Template german / Template english)
• Award work (published or accepted for publication scientific, peer-reviewed, original or systematic review articles and meta-analyses in a German or English-language professional journal) that were published in 2025 or have received acceptance for publication in 2025.
• A summary of the work and key findings that is understandable to laypersons (max. 500 words, in German and English).

In evaluating the submitted works, the basic scientific or clinical relevance of the research question, originality, methodological quality, and added value for scientific knowledge gain or for the care of individuals affected by epilepsy will be taken into account. In cases of shared first authorship, all award recipients will each receive a certificate and a proportional share of the prize money.

The Heinz-Penin Prize for Epilepsy Research is awarded to the best early-career research work originating from Bonn in the fields of experimental epilepsy research, clinical epilepsy research, and cognitive neuroscience, which was published or accepted for publication in the previous year.

The prize is endowed with €1,000 for personal use.

It is announced annually in July and formally awarded at the yearly Otto-Löwenstein Symposium. The prize is accompanied by the Penin Lecture, in which the awardees present their work. The evaluation and selection of submitted works are carried out by external reviewers.

The Heinz-Penin Prize for Epilepsy Research is financially supported by the Verein zur Förderung der Epilepsieforschung e.V.

In addition to basic and clinical research, the jury may also define other research areas closely related to epileptology (e.g., cognitive basic research involving patients with epilepsy) and award a prize in each of these areas.

A total of up to four prizes may be awarded across four different research fields (€1,000 each; i.e., a maximum total annual prize fund provided by the association of €4,000).

However, the jury also reserves the right to award fewer prizes, or none at all in a given year, if the overall quality of the submitted work (within a given field) is not considered sufficiently worthy of an award.