!!2025 ALLEA Madame De Staël Prize Awarded To President Of The European Research Council (ERC) Maria Leptin

__Academia Europaea is delighted to announce the award of the ALLEA Madame de Staël Prize to the President of The European Research Council (ERC), [Maria Leptin|Member/Leptin_Maria] MAE for her outstanding contributions to European research leadership, and the advancement of frontier science across Europe. Prof. Leptin is a long standing member of Academia Europaea and was elected as member of the [Biochemistry and Molecular Biology|Acad_Main/Sections/Biochemistry_molecular_biology] Section in 1989.__
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[{Image src='Madame_de_Stael_Prize.jpg' caption='' height='350' alt='' align='center'}]
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The 2025 ALLEA Madame de Staël Prize recognises Professor Maria Leptin for her outstanding contributions to European research leadership, and the advancement of frontier science across Europe.
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Her research has advanced understanding of how individual cells give rise to complex multicellular organisms, including the processes and proteins that determine embryonic shape and form. She has gained recognition for her work on the fruit fly ''Drosophila'', investigating complex cell shapes in the respiratory system and the formation of the tracheal network, and for studying pathogen resistance in zebrafish. Beyond her scientific achievements, Maria Leptin has held multiple leading roles in the European and international research community, including as the first woman Director of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and, since November 2021, as President of the European Research Council (ERC), combining her scientific expertise with extensive experience in research policy and management.
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“''The jury has unanimously decided to award Maria Leptin the 2025 ALLEA Madame de Staël Prize in recognition of her pioneering contributions to developmental biology and her outstanding leadership in European research. As Director of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and as President of the European Research Council, Professor Leptin has demonstrated exceptional dedication to advancing science and fostering collaboration within the European scientific community. Her work embodies the very values honoured by this Prize – promoting scientific excellence, supporting collaboration across borders, and strengthening the impact of research on society,''” said Professor Paweł Rowiński, President of ALLEA and chair of the ALLEA Madame de Staël Prize Jury.
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“''It is a great honour to receive this prize, and I would like to express my gratitude to ALLEA, an organisation I hold in the highest regard. The values celebrated by this award, such as scientific curiosity, European intellectual engagement, and academic freedom - embodied by Madame de Staël - are ones I deeply share, as does the European Research Council''”, said Professor Leptin about her nomination.
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[{Image src='Leptin_Maria_small.jpg' caption='' height='330' alt='Maria Leptin' class='image_left'}]
!About Maria Leptin 

Maria Leptin has been the President of the [European Research Council|https://erc.europa.eu/about-erc/erc-president-scientific-council] (ERC) since November 2021 and chairs the ERC governing body, the Scientific Council. She is a biologist best known for her work on the mechanisms that allow a developing body to take on its correct shape.
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After her studies in mathematics and biology at the University of Bonn and the University of Heidelberg, Germany, Maria Leptin carried out her PhD research at the Basel Institute for Immunology, Switzerland. She then moved to the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, after which she became a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany, and then professor at the Institute of Genetics, University of Cologne, Germany. She spent extended research periods and sabbaticals at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France, and at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK.
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Before her appointment as ERC President, Maria Leptin was the Director of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) in Heidelberg, and a research group leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory.
She is an elected member of EMBO, the Academia Europaea, the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), the Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste, the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and the European Academy of Sciences. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Royal Society and an international member of the US National Academy of Sciences. She holds the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EFPL), Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Nova University Lisbon and the University of Cambridge. She was awarded the lifetime achievement award by the Latin American Society for Developmental Biology, the De Sanctis Award for Europe and the De Sanctis Award for Research.
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!About the ALLEA Madame de Staël Prize

The ALLEA [Madame de Staël Prize|https://allea.org/allea-madame-stael-prize] is awarded annually and recognises eminent researchers and scholars across Europe whose work embodies significant contributions to the cultural and intellectual values of Europe and to ideas of European integration. It was launched in 2014 and has received great support from various members of the European Commission including its then President, José Manuel Barroso.
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Maria Leptin is the twelfth outstanding scholar to win the annual ALLEA prize. Other recent laureates include Professor Viola Priesemann, physicist and computational neuroscientist., Professor Fabiola Gianotti, particle physicist and Director-General of CERN, and Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and Professor of European Law at the University of Leuven.

!About ALLEA

Established in 1994, [ALLEA|www.allea.org] serves as the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, advocating for the role of science as a global public good and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration among its Member Academies and beyond. ALLEA’s statutory purpose is to promote science and research in Europe and globally.
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ALLEA provides a forum for scientific exchange across borders, thereby consolidating the collective voice of European academia and contributing a European perspective to international discourse. As such, ALLEA is widely recognised as renowned academic stakeholder at the European science-policy-society interface and is frequently consulted as a trusted source of expertise for policymakers, media and the public.
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A charitable non-profit association formally registered as All European Academies (ALLEA) e.V. under German law, ALLEA has its own legal personality and therefore remains fully independent of political, religious, and commercial interests.

!Media contact:

For more information or to request an interview, please contact ALLEA Senior Communications Officer Ioana Cristina Casapu.
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Tel: +49 030 206 066-504\\ 
[communications@allea.org|mailto:communications@allea.org]
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