Prizes & awards
Teddy Bear Hospital honored with alumni award
At the opening of the academic year of the University of Freiburg at the end of October, the Teddy Bear Hospital of the Offene Fachschaft Medizin Freiburg e. V. was awarded the Alumni Prize for outstanding student commitment in the social field. The Teddy Bear Hospital uses play to teach children aged three to six how exciting a visit to hospital can be. It took place for the 20th time in 2025 in collaboration with trainees from the Medical Center - University of Freiburg and is one of the largest of its kind in Germany with around 4,000 young visitors. The prize is endowed with 2,000 euros.
Silver city seal for many years of commitment
Prof. Dr. Roland Laszig, former Medical Director of the Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg and Member of the Board of Directors of the association Deaf Children Learn to Hear, was honored with the Silver City Seal by Freiburg's Lord Mayor Martin Horn at the association's 30th anniversary event at the end of October. The city of Freiburg thus honored his decades of commitment to children with hearing impairments as part of his association's work. Also in October, Laszig was honored with the 2025 Foundation Award for his many years of commitment on the advisory board of the Research Association of German Hearing Aid Acousticians.
Freiburg Orbital Center receives EUGOGO certificate
The Freiburg Orbital Center is now one of five German centers with EUGOGO certification(European Group on Graves Orbitopathy). The award recognizes the specialized care of patients with endocrine orbitopathy, an autoimmune-mediated inflammation of the orbital tissue in the context of thyroid disease. At the Orbital Center, the Departments of Eye Center, Maxillofacial Surgery, Neurosurgery, Internal Medicine II, ENT Medicine, Nuclear Medicine and Neuroradiology at the Medical Center of Freiburg work closely together on an interdisciplinary basis.
Award for rheumatology research in Freiburg
Prof. Dr. Marta Rizzi (2nd from left), Prof. Dr. Jens Thiel (2nd from right) and Prof. Dr. Nils Venhoff (3rd from left) from the Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at Uniklinik have been awarded the John Grube Research Promotion Prize 2025. They received the 20,000 euro prize for their study on granulomatosis with polyangiitis - a rare autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body's own blood vessels. The award was presented at the German Rheumatology Congress 2025 in Wiesbaden. More...
Double award for surgeons
Dr. med. Dr. rer. nat. Christopher Berlin, Senior Physician in the Department of General and Visceral Surgery at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, was awarded the HTCR Research Prize (endowment 3,000 euros) and the Rudolf Nissen Prize of the German Society for General and Visceral Surgery (endowment 5,000 euros) in 2025. The prize was awarded for his work on murine and human tumor organoids of colorectal carcinoma (colon cancer). These organoids represent the tumor biology realistically and provide insights into heterogeneity and therapy response. The prizes were awarded as part of the Human Tissue and Cell Research (HTCR) anniversary and "Visceral Medicine 2025".
European Lecture Award for neurosurgeons
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Beck, Medical Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, was presented with the European Lecture Award at the annual congress of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) in Vienna at the beginning of October. The award recognizes his medical developments that have changed the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). In this disease, cerebrospinal fluid escapes through a leak in the spinal cord - leading to very severe headaches. Beck is only the fifth EANS award winner from Germany since 1980.
First Clinical Prize 2025 of the German Society of Urology
Prof. Dr. Dr. Arkadiusz Miernik (Managing Senior Physician at the Department - University of Freiburg Urology and Head of the Section for Urotechnology) and his project team received the First Clinical Prize for the best clinical work at this year's German Urology Congress (DGU) in Hamburg. The prize was awarded to the VISIMON project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which researched and developed a digital system for the intelligent monitoring of bladder irrigation in patients following transurethral surgery. The prize is endowed with 2,500 euros.
Science prize for plastic surgeons
PD Dr. Branislav Kollár, senior consultant in the Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, was awarded the DGPRÄC Science Prize at the 55th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (DGPRÄC) in Leipzig at the end of September. The prize, which is endowed with 5,000 euros, honors his habilitation on facial transplantation. Among other things, he researched how rejection reactions can be detected early using blood tests and what long-term consequences this complex operation can have for patients.
Rain of prizes for the eye clinic
At the annual congress of the German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) in Berlin at the end of September, prizes rained down on staff and doctoral students at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg: Katharina Maria Blatz received the DOG poster prize, Dr. Stefaniya Boneva the Helmholtz Research Prize (endowment of 5,000 euros), Suzanne Guth a doctoral scholarship and Prof. Dr. Wolf Lagrèze the Elfriede Research Prize (endowment of 5,000 euros). Stefaniya Boneva received the Helmholtz Research Prize (endowment 5,000 euros), Suzanne Guth a doctoral scholarship, Prof. Dr. Wolf Lagrèze the Elfriede Aulhorn Prize (endowment 4,000 euros) and Dr. Paula Liang the DOG Doctoral Prize for basic scientific work. More...
Elena Grune receives Stephan Weiland Prize
Elena Grune, mathematician at the Department of Radiology and Interventional Radiology at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, received an award at the 20th Annual Conference of the German Society for Epidemiology in Münster at the end of September for her project, which uses magnetic resonance imaging to investigate various subtypes of body composition in the population and their relationship to cardiovascular and metabolic disease risks. The aim is to improve early risk assessment and prevention through more differentiated imaging and analysis. The prize is endowed with 500 euros.