The Angelika Amon Young Scientist Award

Pioneering geneticist and cell biologist Angelika Amon (1967-2020) was a dedicated mentor, guide, advocate, and friend to many scientists. From her five years as a fellow at the Whitehead Institute and through her time as a faculty member at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, she trained countless undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and technicians—sharing with them her lifelong passion for fundamental biology and discovery science. The ripple effect of Angelika’s inspiration and counsel is profound. Amon Lab alumni have set up their own labs in numerous universities and research institutes around the world.

The Angelika Amon Young Scientist Award at MIT's Koch Institute is an endowed prize established in 2021 by family and friends and awarded annually to up to two graduate students in the life sciences or biomedical research from institutions outside the United States who embody Dr. Amon’s excellence in research and infectious enthusiasm for basic science. Winners receive approximately 1,000 USD, economy airfare, and hotel accommodations to visit the Koch Institute for several days to network with MIT faculty, postdocs and graduate students working at the top of their fields. The visit culminates with a scientific presentation at MIT and award ceremony.

Sourav Ghosh
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India

Kotaro Tomuro
RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute/ 
Department of Computational Biology and
Medical Sciences and the Graduate School of Frontier
Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan 

2024

Anna Uzonyi, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel 
Lukas Teoman Henneberg, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany

2023

Johanna Gassler, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Austria & Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany 

Ruxandra-Andreea Lambuta, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland

 

2022

Alejandro Aguilera Castrejon, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Melanie de Almeida, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Austria

Support the Award 

Gifts to the Amon Young Scientist Award can be made online or by contacting Karen Sveda, Managing Director of Development, at ksveda@mit.edu or (617) 324-7399. 

Applications for 2025 are now closed.  Please check back for details on how to apply for 2026.