Video Hector Science Award

Hector Science Award Winner is Prof. Dr. Katrin Amunts

Prof. Dr. Katrin Amunts is the Hector Science Award winner of 2021. The prize, awarded by the Hector Founda­tion, honors outstand­ing profes­sors from German univer­si­ties and research insti­tu­tions in the fields of natural sciences, engineer­ing, mathe­mat­ics, infor­mat­ics, psychol­ogy and medicine and supports them in their research. In addition to their excel­lent research achieve­ments, their commit­ment to teach­ing and promot­ing young scien­tists is recog­nized as well as the social contri­bu­tion of their work is acknowledged.

Katrin Amunts is a Neuro­sci­en­tist, Profes­sor of Brain Research and Direc­tor of the C. and O. Vogt Insti­tute for Brain Research at Heinrich Heine Univer­sity Düssel­dorf and Direc­tor of the Insti­tute for Neuro­science and Medicine at Forschungszen­trum Jülich. Together with her team, she is research­ing the mapping of the human brain and devel­oped the cytoar­chi­tec­tonic Julich Brain Atlas. The atlas serves as a refer­ence brain and as a basis for the integra­tion of brain data. In addition, the atlas is freely acces­si­ble to scien­tists and the scien­tific public and can be constantly updated and supple­mented. The aim of the 3D digital atlas is to provide a better under­stand­ing of the organi­za­tional princi­ples of the human brain. With the help of high-perfor­mance comput­ing methods, ultra-high resolu­tion human brain models can be created.

Congrat­u­la­tions on the Hector Science Award and welcome to the Hector Fellow Academy to Prof. Dr. Katrin Amunts!

The winners of the Hector Science Award are also appointed Hector Fellow and thus become part of the Hector Fellow Academy (HFA). The HFA aims to promote network­ing between scien­tists from differ­ent disci­plines. In doing so, it facil­i­tates new perspec­tives on research fields as well as social discourses with the public. At the same time, doctoral and project positions with the Hector Fellows are funded as part of the promo­tion of young researchers. Since 2021, the Hector Fellow Academy has also estab­lished the Hector Research Career Devel­op­ment Award for aspir­ing scien­tists, which is intended to support the award winners on their way to professorships.