Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal
The TUM presents the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal to individuals who, through their exceptional achievements in science, technology or medicine, have rendered a great service to the university in their capacity as outstanding lecturers and researchers.
The award is named after the pioneer of German Neutron Physics, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, one of the most eminent scientists in the university’s history. Maier-Leibnitz is most famous for having developed the scientific and technical concept for the first neutron source in Germany (the so-called “Atom-Ei” or “atomic egg”, 1957/58), located in Garching.
The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal has been awarded since 1997. The following people have received the award:
2025
Professorship for Pharmacology and Toxicology (TUM School of Medicine and Health)
Prof. Dr. Stefan Engelhardt received the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal 2025 in recognition of his "outstanding research achievements on the role of non-coding RNAs in cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and the development of innovative, targeted therapies, and his great commitment as spokesperson for the Cluster of Excellence NUCLEATE and Clusters for Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Munich (CNATM)."
Professorship for Innovation Research (TUM School of Management; Munich Center for Technology in Society; TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology)
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Pfotenhauer received the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal 2025 in recognition of his “outstanding research achievements in science and technology studies and his outstanding commitment as spokesperson for the TransforM Cluster of Excellence and co-director of the Munich Cluster for the Future of Mobility in Metropolitan Regions (MCube).”
Professorship for Solid-State Electrolytes (TUM School of Natural Sciences)
Prof. Dr. Jennifer L.M. Rupp received the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal 2025 in recognition of her "outstanding research contributions to the fundamentals of electrochemical energy storage and conversion and her great commitment as spokesperson for the e-conversion Cluster of Excellence and in attracting the battery start-up incubator BaStl to TUM."
Professorship for Physics of Synthetic Biological Systems (TUM School of Natural Sciences)
Prof. Dr. Friedrich Simmel received the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal in 2025 in recognition of his “outstanding research achievements in the fields of artificial molecular machines and nanostructures made of DNA molecules and the design of artificial biochemical control loops, as well as his commitment as spokesperson for the BioSysteM Cluster of Excellence.”