Jülich Excellence Prize overview

The Jülich Excellence Prize

Forschungszentrum Jülich has been awarding the Excellence Prize since 2009 to young, internationally successful scientists for their outstanding doctoral theses, the main parts of which were written at Jülich, as well as their excellent achievements during the postdoc phase. This must be endorsed by a high-ranking committee of four internal and four external professors as well as written external expert opinions. With Dr. Anja Meier, the number of prize winners has now increased to 43.

More information on previous Jülich Excellence Prize winners you can find here:

The Jülich Excellence Prize winner 2025

In her doctoral work, the chemist played a pivotal role in advancing the field of photoemission tomography (POT). This technology now allows for a much more comprehensive analysis of the chemical properties of molecules and is also more versatile than before. Meier completed her doctoral thesis at the Peter Grünberg Institute for Quantum Nanoscience (PGI-3) at Forschungszentrum Jülich and successfully defended her thesis at the Faculty of Physics in RWTH Aachen University in spring 2024. She now works as a postdoc at PGI-3.

Prize committee’s statement

The prize committee praised how Meier’s work addressed fundamental scientific questions and thus opened up new perspectives for the identification of molecules on surfaces and for the analysis of chemical reactions at the molecular level. Furthermore, she applied technological methods far beyond their established field of application.

“Excellent research comes from excellent minds. We are proud to be able to offer such a talented scientist the right environment for her groundbreaking invention. I am delighted that she will continue her research in Jülich as a postdoc.”
Astrid Lambrecht, Chair of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich

Video on the 2025 Excellence Prize winner: Dr. Anja Meier