Prix Schläfli
The Prix Schläfli rewards outstanding Swiss PhDs in natural sciences. It is one of the oldest prizes in Switzerland. Since the first awarding in 1866, 132 young talents in different natural science disciplines have been distinguished.
The prize has the following aims:
- Promote young talents (promotion of young scientists and support of academic excellence) in the different natural science disciplines
- Highlight the importance of young scientists in the Swiss research landscape
News
Prix Schläfli 2026 award for the four best dissertations in natural sciences
Valeriia Hutskalova (Chemistry), Julian Rogger (Geosciences), Astrid Stubbusch (Biology) and Andrea Weibel (Astronomy) were honoured with the Prix Schläfli 2026 for findings made in the context of their dissertations. Through this prize, the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) singles out the four most significant insights of young researchers at Swiss universities. The Prix Schläfli has been awarded since 1866.
Image: SCNAT
Julian Rogger shows how plants regulate the climate
Prix Schläfli 2026 for Geosciences: How climate change affects plants is right in front of our eyes. But what is the opposite like? What role does the vegetation system play in regulating the climate? This is the question pursued by Julian Rogger in his thesis at ETH Zurich, for which he has been awarded the Prix Schläfli.
Image: Laurine Rey
Valeriia Hutskalova is a humorous "toolmaker" in Chemistry
Prix Schläfli 2026 for Chemistry: She really wanted to be a pianist, but she found enjoyment in chemistry. And Valeriia Hutskalova has now been awarded the Prix Schläfli. In her thesis at the University of Basel, she showed that even particularly stable molecule rings can be intentionally “cut” and put together again.
Andrea Weibel discovered that galaxies grow up surprisingly quickly
Prix Schläfli 2026 for Astronomy: He has always been interested in the “big questions of the universe” and immersed himself in the origins of the universe for his thesis at the University of Geneva. Andrea Weibel will now receive the Prix Schläfli for his work on the emergence of very young galaxies.
Astrid Stubbusch discovers hunting bacteria
Prix Schläfli 2026 for Biology: From a very young age, Astrid Stubbusch wanted to thoroughly explore life in all its forms. In her thesis at Eawag – the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology – she showed the astounding strategies that bacteria develop in order to find food. She has now been awarded the Prix Schläfli for Biology for this work.
Image: Samuel WilksWhy the Prix Schläfli?
Dr. Alexander Friedrich Schläfli of Burgdorf, Switzerland, who died in 1863 just before his 31st birthday in Baghdad, bequeathed his entire estate to the Swiss Society of Natural Sciences (SHSN) on the condition "that the Society shall found [...] an annual and perpetual prize on some question of physical science. The choice and the value of this prize will be at the exclusive discretion of the said Society". The SHSN therefore set up a commission that would manage the "Schläfli Fund" which consisted of CHF 9,605.45. From 1866, when the first A.F.Schläfli Prize was awarded, to the present day, more than 100 laureates have benefited from this prize.
A fortune for the SSNS
Alexander Friedrich Schläfli from Burgdorf died in 1863 in Bagdad. He left his fortune to the Swiss Society for Natural Sciences (SSNS) on condition that the “Society will award an annual prize to any question in physical science – Physical science always comprised the Physics and Natural Sciences (according to proceedings 1917, page 97). (…) The selection and the amount are at the discretion of the named Society.”
Contact
Dr Anne Jacob
SCNAT
Commission for the Promotion of Young Talents
House of Academies
Laupenstrasse 7
3008 Bern
Switzerland
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