Rosa-Laura and Hartmut Wekerle Foundation
The Rosa-Laura and Hartmut Wekerle Foundation was founded in 2003 by Prof. Hartmut Wekerle, Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, and his wife, Dr. Rosa-Laura Oropeza Wekerle. It is an incorporated foundation constituted under civil law, whose seat is in Planegg-Martinsried.
The goal of the foundation is to support young scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence from biological and medical fields, in their day-to-day lives and in their research.
The measures supported by the foundation include
- The support of the young generation of scientists, for example, in the form of short-term stipends.
- The financial support of scientists in need, for example, in the area of the reconciliation of work and family life.
- Initiatives that promote international scientific exchange, for example, in the form of grants towards travel costs or conference attendance.
Each year, the foundation funds approximately three to four applications for time-limited undertakings.
Applications can be made in writing and are accepted on a rolling basis. Please limit your application to one DIN A4 page. Your application should be directed to the Head of the Administration of the MPI for Biological Intelligence, Mrs. Sonja Strobel.
Decisions are made by the board and are communicated to applicants in writing.
Since 2013 the Rosa-Laura and Hartmut Wekerle Foundation has also funded the Herbert Fischer Prize for Neuroimmunology. The prize, which is endowed with € 1500, is awarded annually by the German Society for Immunology (DGfI) to graduate students and junior postdoctoral scientists up to 35 years of age, for work carried out in Germany in the field of Neuroimmunology.
The prize is awarded in honor of the former director at the Max Planck Institute of Immunbiology (1961-1981), Herbert Fischer. Fischer was a pioneer in the field of systems immunology and one of the first to grasp the importance of the cellular milieus for the immune response. He was particularly interested in the interplay between lymphocytes and macrophages, which he was able to illuminate through the use of innovative methods such as chemiluminescence and microcinematography. Herbert Fisher was the mentor of Hartmut and Rosa-Laura Oroperza Wekerle.