The Frankfurt virologist Professor Sandra Ciesek and the science journalist Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim will receive the Hessian Culture Prize 2021. The laudation for the two award winners will be given by Ciesek's Berlin colleague Professor Christian Drosten, as the state government announced in Hesse on Wednesday.
Drosten and Ciesek jointly design the multiple award-winning NDR podcast "The Coronavirus Update".
The award will be presented on November 5th by Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) in the Audimax of the Frankfurt University Hospital.
The award is endowed with 45,000 euros and, according to the state of Hesse, is the most highly endowed culture award in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Like Nguyen-Kim, the director of the Institute for Medical Virology at the Frankfurt University Hospital is being honored “for her services in the corona pandemic”.
Ciesek was honored with a "Loewe" top professorship by the state of Hesse in October.
The scientist will receive funding of 1.4 million euros for five years.