Max Perutz Prize

perutz-medalThe Max Perutz Prize is awarded in recognition of meritorious achievements in any branch of crystallography by a crystallographer having a clear affiliation with the ECA region and being an individual member of the ECA. It can be for leadership or scientific contributions or both.

The ECA awards the Max Perutz Prize twice in a three-year cycle (year of the General Assembly of the IUCr excluded) at the ECMs, official general meetings of the ECA.

The president of the ECA appoints the chairperson of the Max Perutz Prize Committee, usually for a six-year period.

The Max Perutz Prize Committee is an independently convened group that works in confidence to discuss candidacies for the Perutz Prize, and is chaired by a member of the ECA Executive Committee. The president of the ECA monitors due process through general reports from the chairperson of the selection committee, but is in no way involved in the details of the deliberations or conclusions on the individual candidacies of the selection committee.

The chairperson of the Max Perutz Prize Committee issues a call for nominations approximately 6 months before the prize is awarded.

A candidate for the Max Perutz Prize of the ECA is nominated taking in account the contribution which the candidate has made to the field of crystallography.

The nominee must have a clear affiliation with the ECA, directly associated with crystallography and a listed member of the World Directory of Crystallography.

The nominee shall not hold a current position on the ECA Executive Committee or member of the current Max Perutz Prize Committee.

Nominators may be an (i) ECA individual Member or (ii) any person from a national member of ECA or (iii) any CAM. The nominator must ensure a signed acceptance of the nomination by the nominee.

The nominator must indicate briefly why the candidate is nominated and may include matters such as publication record and motivate impact. However, uniqueness (i.e. pioneering contributions) and the usefulness of the nominee’s work should always be of prime importance to the selection committee.

Nominations close approximately four months before the award is made.

The chairperson of the Max Perutz Prize committee appoints three to five additional members to the committee representing the various fields of crystallography. The committee considers the candidates, select the winning candidate by a clear majority, and forward the name of the successful Max Perutz Prize candidate to the president of the ECA, who makes the announcement.

The Max Perutz Prize Committee shall, when two winning candidates equal in stature are identified, give preference to the candidate from a different focus area than that of the previous Max Perutz Prize Laureate.

Where an Awardee’s research is in collaboration, the credits to the team or to particularly relevant partnerships are naturally expected to be acknowledged by the Awardee, and thereby to be specifically requested in the formal announcement drafting step.

The candidate receives the award at the official opening of the following ECM and presents a lecture at this occasion.

Nomination

The European Crystallographic Association is pleased to announce the twelfth Max Perutz Prize.

The Prize will be awarded in recognition of meritorious achievements in any branch of crystallography to an individual scientist clearly affiliated with the ECA.

Nominators may be ECA Individual Members, or any person from a national member of ECA, or any Corporate Affiliated Member. The nominator must ensure a signed acceptance of the nomination by the nominee.

The nominator must indicate briefly why the candidate is nominated and may include matters such as publication record and impact of their research in the scientific community. However, the uniqueness of their pioneering contributions and the usefulness of the nominee’s work will be of prime consideration to the selection committee.

The nominee shall not hold a current position on the ECA Executive Committee or be member of the current Max Perutz Prize Committee and must be a listed member of the World Directory of Crystallography. The winner receives the award at the official opening of the following ECM and presents a lecture at this occasion.

Nominations must be sent before 23h59 on May 1st,  2025,  to the chair  ECA Vice President.

Minimal information to be submitted to the prize committee chairperson:

  1. Nomination letter: maximum 1 page, which should include:
    • overview of career milestones: scientific pioneering achievements, education
    • commitment to community,
    • nomination on behalf of whom: individual(s), university, national association, …
  2. CV of nominee (maximum 1 page):
    • Academic degrees
    • Academic and/or industrial career; appointments
    • Awards
    • Memberships
    • Teaching activities
    • Roles in committees and/or in learned societies
  3. Science impact indicators: number of publications, h-index, i10-index, …
  4. Publication list (maximum 20, the most significant ones)
  5. Signed acceptance of the nomination by the nominee

Awardees