Intra-mural research funding
The University Medical Center Mainz supports its (early-career) researchers in pursuing innovative and pioneering research projects. Applicants can choose between the following three different intra-mural funding options:
Medical Minds Mainz: Awards for early-career researchers in various categories
High-Potentials Grant: multi-year funding to develop your own research profile
Clinical Research Fellowships: support of clinical research for clinician scientists
currently suspended:
Stufe I: Start-up funding for third-party funded projects
Stufe I - currently suspended
Please note:At the moment, to apply for an intra-mural Stufe I research funding is unfortunatley not possible.
Medical Minds Mainz: awards for Young Researchers in various categories
The calls are announced annually via the Researchers Newsletter and the CSO's Newsletter. The prize is endowed with a personal payout of 2,500 €. The awards will be presented as part of the annual TransMed Science Day. The Committee for Research Support (AFF) decides on the awarding of currently 5 prizes per year in the categories
a) TransMed Scientist Award - MD: Publication related to medical doctoral theses,
b) TransMed Scientist Award - PhD: Publication of scientific dissertations,
d) Science goes Media Award: particularly successful communication of research results, which can be traced back to a broad impact of public outreach, and
e) 3Rs Award: consistent implementation of 3R (replace, reduce, refine) in animal research.
The calls are open .
Please send your application documents to the Vice Dean of Research Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hansjörg Schild at the following email address: prodekan-forschung.um@uni-mainz.de . Any questions should be addressed to Dr. Tsanan Heimann (forschung.um@uni-mainz )
The call documents and application forms in English, as well as the previous award winners can be found on our website (GER, please press F5 to refresh if you have previously visited our website).
The deadline for handing in your application is March 23, 2026.
Notice on Parallel Submissions
By submitting their work, applicants confirm that the submitted work has not been entered into any other competition or call for proposals and will not be submitted elsewhere until a final decision has been made. Parallel submissions are not permitted.
TransMed Scientist Award 2025 - MD
- Elias Wolf (Department of Radiology), for his work on “Photon-Counting Detector CT Virtual Monoenergetic Images for Coronary Artery Stenosis Quantification: Phantom and In Vivo Evaluation”
TransMed Scientist Award 2025 - PhD
- Jenny Schunke (Department of Dermatology), for her work on „Co-delivery of STING and TLR7/8 agonists in antigen-based nanocapsules to dendritic cells enhances CD8+T cell-mediated melanoma remission“
- Daniela Mirzac (Department of Neurology), for her work on „Targeting pathological brain activity-related to neuroinflammation through scRNA-seq for new personalized therapies in Parkinson’s disease“
Insights in Medicine Award 2025
- no awardee this year
Science goes Media Award 2025
-
Omar Hahad (Department of Cardiology), for his work on „Cumulative social disadvantage and cardiovascular disease burden and mortality”
3Rs Award 2025
- Johannes Miedema (Institute of Human Genetics), for his work on „Machine-learning-based phenotyping of female and male inbred mice into sustained and phasic freezers“
- Friederike Kirschner, Institute of Immunology, for the work: „Modulation of cellular transcriptome and proteome composition by azidohomoalanine—implications on click chemistry–based secretome analysis“
- Kristin Grunz, Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CTH), for the work: „Nucleic acid sensing promotes inflammatory monocyte migration through biased coagulation factor VIIa signaling“
- Ioannis Farmakis, Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CTH), for the work: „Lipid lowering for prevention of venous thromboembolism: a network meta analysis“
Clara-Sophie Schwarz, Institute of Legal Medicine, for the work: „Rechtsmedizinische Sachverständigentätigkeit in der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung“
- Miriam Heuser, Translational Animal Research Center (TARC) ,for the work: „A 3D-Printed Dummy for Training Distal Phalanx Amputation in Mice“
- Nicholas Hanuscheck, Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie, for the work „Interleukin-4 receptor signaling modulates neuronal network activity“
- Anke Adenäuer, Institut für klinische Chemie und Laboratoriumsmedizin, for the work „Severe high-molecular-weight kininogen deficiency: clinical characteristics, deficiency–causing KNG1 variants, andestimated prevalence“
- Dr. med. Simon J. Gairing, I. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, for the work „ Prevalence of Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis: A Multicenter Study “
In 2023, this prize was not awarded
- In 2023, this prize was not awarded
- Kevin Jan Legscha, III. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, for the work „Δ133p53α enhances metabolic and cellular fitness of TCR-engineered T cells and promotes superior antitumor immunity“
- Katie Frenis, PhD, Zentrum für Kardiologie, for the work „Ablation of lysozyme M-positive cells prevents aircraft noise-induced vascular damage without improving cerebral side effects“
- Luís Miguel Ferreira de Almeida, PhD, Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, for the work „Ribosome-Targeting Antibiotics Impair T Cell Effector Function and Ameliorate Autoimmunity by Blocking Mitochondrial Protein Synthesis“
- Dr. med. Lukas Müller, M.D., Klinik und Poliklinik für Diagnostische und Interventionelle Radiologie, for the work „Fully automated AI-based splenic segmentation for predicting survival and estimating the risk of hepatic decompensation in TACE patients with HCC“
Herrn Oliver Bayer, Frau Maike Dienst, Frau Alexandra Euler, Herrn Emmanuel Gbogbo, Herrn Kai Günther, Frau Juliane Haase, Frau Alisha Hall, Frau Katrin Maria Kopp, Frau Anna Mavromanoli, Frau Tabea Petelkau, Frau Laura Pfrommer, Frau Julia Popow, Herrn Nicola Riccetti, Frau Ida Scholz, Frau Yanita Simeonova, Frau Nina Teletzky, Frau Marielle Wirth, Herrn Dr. Emilio Gianicolo sowie Frau Univ.-Prof. Dr. Susanne Singer, Institut für Medizinische Biometrie, Epidemiologie und Informatik (IMBEI) mit dem Masterstudiengang Epidemiologie, für die Arbeit „Epi… Was?“ – Fragen und Antworten zur Epidemiologie“
- Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. Naureen Keric, Neurochirurgische Klinik und Poliklinik, for the work „Ein in vitro Clot-Modell der spontanen intrazerebralen Blutung zur Optimierung der minimal-invasiven Therapie"
- Dr. rer. nat. Jan-Sebastian Boegel, I. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, for the work „Current status of use of high throughput nucleotide sequencing in rheumatology“
- Marin Kuntic, Zentrum für Kardiologie, for the work „Short-term e-cigarette vapour exposure causes vascular oxidative stress and dysfunction: evidence for a close connection to brain damage and a key role of the phagocytic NADPH oxidase (NOX-2)“
- Dr. rer. nat. Nadine Baumgart, Translational Animal Research Center (TARC), for the work „Proaktive Kommunikation über Tierversuche“
- Miriam Pons, Institut für Toxikologie, for the work „Human Platelet Lysate as Validated Replacement for Animal Serum to Assess Chemosensitivity“
High Potentials Grant: multiannual funding to develop own research profile
The grant is awarded to outstanding post-doctoral scientists with a doctorate (clinician scientists or medical scientists) from Germany and abroad, who have already distinguished themselves with high-ranking publications, their own third-party funding and proven their potential as independent scientists.
The previous High Potentials Grant Fellows of the University Medical Center Mainz are presented on this page. The next call announcement will be published in early spring 2027.
Clinical Research Fellowships
Mainz University Medical Center has set itself the goal of promoting active initiation and participation in academically driven clinical trials. In order to increase the attractiveness of clinical research for young, excellent physicians, to create career perspectives, to increase the visibility of the University Medical Center and finally to translate this knowledge into advances in patient care, a scholarship program has been established.
The fellowship is intended as temporary start-up funding for clinical research projects.
