Prizes and medals awarded by EBSA

EBSA acknowledges outstanding scientific activity with awards. The EBSA Young Investigators’ Medal and Prize has along tradition. It was established in 2000 and was awarded twelve times. The Avanti Polar Lipid / EBSA Award is a newer initiative and was first given in 2013. The newest award is NanoTemper Award which will be first time given in 2025.


EBSA Young Investigators’ Medal and Prize

Invitation to nominate candidates

The EBSA Executive Committee invites all Member Societies to nominate candidates for the next EBSA Prize to be awarded at the 15th Biophysics Congress, in Rome in 2025. The winner of the Prize receives 2000 EUR and a medal, and will present a lecture at the Congress, as well as be expected to contribute an article to the European Biophysics Journal (either a review or original article). Under normal conditions, it is a condition of being awarded the Prize, that the Awardee attends the congress in the year that the Prize is awarded. Free registration for the congress, and two nights accommodation only will be provided.

The prize is attributed to an independent researcher, normally within 12 years from PhD at the time the prize is given, although allowance will be made for any career breaks such as maternity leave or compulsory military service. Candidates should be working in one of the Member countries. Nominations (at most 2 pages long) by the National Societies (only one nomination from any society) should be sent to the EBSA Secretary before 31 December 2024.

The nomination should follow the structure below:
- Name of the Nominee:
- Institutional position and affiliation:
- Date of PhD:
- Career breaks (if applicable):
- Number of articles as corresponding author:
- Description of the Nominee's scientific excellence, leadership and creativity:
- Paragraph stating additional reasons for the nomination:

The nomination form should be supplemented by the Nominee's CV (not exceeding 2 pages), List of Publications, and reprints of maximum 3 publications. The decision will be made by the Executive Committee based on scientific excellence, leadership and creativity, with the possibility to call in external reviewers.

2023 Winner of the EBSA Prize is Raya Sorkin, Isreal


 

The prize was presented during the 14th European Biophysics Congress held on July 31 - August 4, 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden.

 

Winners of the EBSA Prize:

2023 Raya Sorkin Tel Aviv, Isreal lecture    
2021 Yaser Hashem Bordeaux, France lecture    
2019 Pere Roca-Cusachs Barcelona, Spain lecture    
2017 Philipp Kukura Oxford, UK lecture    
2015 Iva Tolić Zagreb, Croatia lecture invited review video lecture
2013 Michael Sixt Klosterneuburg, Austria      
2011 Kinneret Keren Haifa, Israel lecture invited review  
2009 Mikel Valle Derio-Bizkaia, Spain lecture invited review  
2007 Marc Baldus Göttingen, Germany lecture invited review
2005 György Panyi Debrecen, Hungary lecture invited review  
2003 Martin Weik Grenoble, France lecture    
2000 Justin Molloy York, UK lecture    

 


Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc.

Avanti Polar Lipids / EBSA Awardestablished in 2012

Avanti Polar Lipids, Incorporated has established biennial award to be given by EBSA. The award will be presented at the following EBSA Congress to an investigator for outstanding contributions to our understanding of lipid biophysics. The winner receives an honorarium of US$ 3,000 and a medal, and will present a lecture at the Congress. Under normal conditions, it is a condition of being awarded the Prize, that the Awardee attends the congress in the year that the Prize is awarded. Free registration for the congress, and two nights accommodation only will be provided.

Eligibility:

  • The nominee will be expected to have made important and well-recognized contributions to an understanding of lipid biophysics, including but not limited to the metabolism, enzymology, structure, or function of lipids or lipid membranes.
  • The nominee must not have previously received an Avanti Award from any Society, and may not nominate themselves.
  • The nominee must be a member of an EBSA adherent member Society that is in good standing.
  • The nominee may be of any nationality or academic rank, and may be affiliated with non-academic institutions provided that the work for which they are to be acknowledged has been published in a recognized scholarly journal, and they are resident in Europe in the year of nomination.
  • The nominator must submit completed nomination forms and the required documents.

Nominations packets must include the following:

  1. Completed Award Nomination Form.
  2. Letter (no more than 2 pages) supporting the candidacy of the nominee, and highlighting specific publications deemed representative or especially worthy of recognition.
  3. Letter from the nominee accepting the nomination, and a commitment (excepting exceptional extenuating circumstances) to present a Plenary lecture at the EBSA congress at which the award is made. Additionally, a review article for the European Biophysics Journal is desired, submitted within 3 months of the award being made known the recipient.
  4. Two supporting letters from other members of an EBSA Member Society. 
  5. Nominee’s curriculum vitae.

The nomination packet, in PDF format, should be emailed to the current EBSA Secretary: John Seddon.

Deadline for nominations: 31 December 2024


2023 Winner of Avanti Polar Lipids / EBSA Award is Dimitrios Stamou, Denmark


  

 

The prize was presented during the 14th European Biophysics Congress held on July 31 - August 4, 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Winners of Avanti Polar Lipids / EBSA Award:

2023 Dimitrios Stamou Copenhagen, Denmark    
2021 Elina Ikonen Helsinki, Finland    
2019 Bruno Antonny Valbonne, France lecture  
2017 Jean Marie Ruysschaert  Bruxelles, Belgium lecture  
2015 J. Antoinette Killian Utrecht, The Netherlands lecture  invited review
2013 Bizkaia, Spain lecture  

 




EBSA / NanoTemper Award in Nanobiophysics – established in 2025

NanoTemper Technologies has established a biennial award to be given by EBSA. The award will be presented at the following EBSA Congress to an investigator for outstanding contributions to the advancement of biophysical methods and their applications in the analysis and characterisation of interacting biological nanosystems. The winner receives an honorarium of 5,000 Euros and a medal, and will present a lecture at the Congress. Under normal conditions, it is a condition of being awarded the Prize, that the Awardee attends the congress in the year that the Prize is awarded. Free registration for the congress, and two nights’ accommodation only will be provided.

Eligibility:

  • The nominee will be expected to have made important and well-recognized contributions to the advancement of biophysical methods and their applications in the analysis and characterisation of interacting biological nanosystems.

  • The nominee may not nominate themselves.

  • The nominee must be a member of an EBSA adherent member Society that is in good standing.

  • The nominee may be of any nationality or academic rank, and may be affiliated with non-academic institutions provided that the work for which they are to be acknowledged has been published in a recognized scholarly journal, and they are resident in Europe in the year of nomination.

  • The nominator must submit completed nomination forms and the required documents.

    Nominations packets must include the following:

  1. Completed Award Nomination Form.

  2. Letter (no more than 2 pages) supporting the candidacy of the nominee, and highlighting specific publications deemed representative or especially worthy of recognition.

  3. Letter from the nominee accepting the nomination, and a commitment (excepting exceptional extenuating circumstances) to present a lecture at the EBSA congress at which the award is made. Additionally, a review article for the European Biophysics Journal is desired, submitted within 3 months of the award being made known the recipient.

  4. Two supporting letters from other members of an EBSA Member Society. 

  5. Nominee’s curriculum vitae.

 The nomination packet, in PDF format, should be emailed to the current EBSA Secretary: John Seddon (j.seddon@imperial.ac.uk).

 Deadline for nominations: 31 December 2024.

 



European Biophysics Journal (EBJ) Prize

The first European Biophysics Journal (EBJ) Prizes were awarded at the Stockholm 2023 EBSA Congress, after selection from papers published in the Journal in 2020 and 2021. The papers recognised were:

Sarah Verbeek, Neha Awasthi, Nikolas Teiwes, Ingo Mey, Jochen Hub and Andreas Janshoff "How arginine derivatives alter the stability of lipid membranes: dissecting the roles of side chains, backbone and termini", Eur Biophys J (2021) 50:127-142 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00249-021-01503-x 
 
 Joanna Zemła, Justyna Bobrowska, Andrzej Kubiak, Tomasz Zieliński, Joanna Pabijan, Katarzyna Pogoda, Piotr Bobrowski and Małgorzata Lekka "Indenting soft samples (hydrogels and cells) with cantilevers possessing various shapes of probing tip", Eur Biophys J (2020)  49:485-495 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00249-020-01456-7 
 
The Prizes awarded were recognised also in an editorial published in EBJ: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00249-023-01691-8