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Hubertus Wald Research Funding
The Hubertus Wald Foundation awards various research prizes and grants for outstanding achievements in cancer research. Here you will find the current calls for applications and former prize winners.
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Research is the only way to improve treatment options for cancer patients. With this vision in mind, the Hubertus Wald Foundation annually awards various prizes to young scientists, motivating them to gain a foothold in oncology. Every two years, the foundation also honors outstanding researchers for their long-standing contributions to cancer research.
The Hubertus Wald Tumor Center – University Cancer Center Hamburg is named in honor of Hubertus Wald. The tireless commitment of his wife Renate Wald and the Hubertus Wald Foundation played a key role in the founding of the Tumor Center in 2007. Since then, it has been continuously supported.
Further funding opportunities for scientists and physicians at all career stages:
Research awards and grants from the Hubertus Wald Foundation:
Current calls for entries
The Hubertus Wald Awards are presented annually at the UCC Hamburg Research Retreat to individuals who present research papers at this event. The winners are selected by audience vote. The Hubertus Wald Doctoral Scholarships are excluded from this. If you have any questions, please contact
Hubertus Wald Award for Oncology
The Hubertus Wald Award for Oncology honors scientists for outstanding achievements in oncology research and patient care. The award carries a prize of €10,000 and is presented every two years by the Hubertus Wald Tumor Center – University Cancer Center Hamburg (UCC Hamburg).
- 2025: Prof. Dr. Karim Fizazi, Professor in medical oncology at Institut Gustave Roussy and Centre Oscar Lambret as well as Paris-Saclay University | Improved prognosis for the most difficult-to-treat subgroup of germ cell tumors
- 2023: Prof. Dr. Inge Marie Svane, Copenhagen University Hospital | Immunotherapies for melanoma
- 2021: Prof. Dr. Benjamin Besse, Head of the Thoracic Oncology Department at the French Cancer Center, Institut Gustave Roussy | Modern therapeutic approaches for bronchial carcinoma
- 2019: Prof. Dr. Pieter Sonneveld, Head of the Hematology Department at Erasmus University Rotterdam | EU treatment regimen for multiple myeloma
- 2017: Prof. Dr. Fritz Schröder, Netherlands | PSA screening for prostate cancer
- 2015: Prof. Dr. Lisa Licitra, Italy | Treatment of head and neck tumors
- 2013: Prof. Dr. Peter Carmeliet, Belgium | Role of angiography in imaging-based tumor therapy
- 2011: Prof. Dr. Marie Overgaard, Denmark | Radiation therapy concepts for breast cancer
- 2010: Prof. Dr. Henri Bismuth, France | Modern surgical approaches for liver tumors and liver metastases
- 2009: Prof. Dr. Eric van Cutsem, Belgium | Development of systemic therapy for colon cancer
Hubertus Wald Junior Investigator Award for Oncology Research
This award recognizes outstanding oncology research projects, providing €6,000 in project funding and a personal prize of €1,000. If the award is given to two equally strong candidates, the prize money is split equally.
- 2025 – Ali Zeinal Abedini
Department of Dermatology and Venereology / Fleur Hiege Center for Skin Cancer Research
Project: "Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) associate with primary immune resistance in metastatic melanoma"
- 2024 – Nele Köppen
Laboratory for Radiobiology and Experimental Radio-Oncology
Project: "Inhibition of PARP results in highly effective radiosensitization of high-risk and standard-risk medulloblastomas"
- 2023 – Ann-Kristin Afflerbach
Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology / Research Institute, Children’s Cancer Center Hamburg
Project: "Classification of brain tumors by nanopore sequencing of cfDNA from CSF"
& Nikhil Kalra
Institute of Tumor Biology
Project: "Investigating potential circulating tumor cell release following breast cancer biopsy"
- 2022 – Franziska Brauneck
II. Medical Clinic and Polyclinic / Mildred Scheel Junior Center Hamburg
Project: "The blockade of CD39 by a newly engineered nanobody construct restores proliferation and activation of T cells in ovarian cancer"
& Melanie Schoof
Research Institute, Children’s Cancer Center Hamburg / Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
Project: "Exploration of cellular origins and therapeutic targets by modeling high-grade pediatric glioma of the MYCN subclass in mice"
- 2021 – Joseph Tintelnot
II. Medical Clinic and Polyclinic / I. Medical Clinic and Polyclinic / Department of General, Visceral, and Thoracic Surgery / Mildred Scheel Junior Center Hamburg
Project: "Microbiota-derived metabolites mediate sensitivity to chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer"
Hubertus Wald Junior Investigator Award for Psychosocial Cancer Research
This award recognizes outstanding research achievements in the field of psychosocial cancer research. The prize money is €1,000.
- 2025 – Minou Gandras
Institute and Polyclinic for Medical Psychology
Project: "Physicians' experiences with the death of cancer patients – a qualitative interview study"
- 2024 – Anneke Ullrich
II. Medical Clinic and Polyclinic
Project: "Grief experiences of family members after the loss of a loved one during the COVID-19 pandemic – results of a qualitative study"
- 2023 – Mareike Thomas
Institute and Polyclinic for Medical Psychology
Project: "Cancer patients’ most burdensome problems – an analysis of routine data in a psycho-oncological outpatient facility"
- 2022 – Cheyenne Topf
Institute and Polyclinic for Medical Psychology
Project: "Patient-centered cancer care through the provision of audio recordings of their clinical encounters for patients – study protocol and first results of a feasibility study"
Science Communication Award
This award is presented for the best graphical representation of a research topic at the UCC Hamburg Research Retreat. The prize money is €1,000.
- 2025 – Catena Kresbach
Institute of Neuropathology
Project: "Intratumoral heterogeneity of MPNST has implications for diagnostics"
- 2024 – Sandra Classen
Laboratory for Radiobiology and Experimental Radio-Oncology
Project: "Untargeted metabolomics reveals pyruvate kinase M (PKM) as a potential radiosensitizer in triple-negative breast cancer"
Hubertus Wald Poster Prize
The poster prize is awarded for the best scientific poster at the UCC Hamburg Research Retreat. The prize money is €1,000.
- 2025 – Ines Heinen & Demet Dingoyan
Institute and Polyclinic for Medical Psychology (Heinen) & Institute for Medical Sociology (Dingoyan)
Project: “Diversity sensitivity in (psycho)oncological care”
- 2024 – Clara Haufschild
II. Medical Clinic and Polyclinic
Project: “Psychological burden and supportive care needs of informal caregivers in specialist palliative care – study protocol for a multicenter prospective longitudinal study and reflections of its implementation”
- 2023 – Annabelle Lobermeyer
Institute for Tumor Biology
Project: “The role of circulating tumor cells in the course of disease and therapy of high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients”
- 2022 – Alicia Eckhardt
Laboratory for Radiation Biology and Experimental Radiooncology / Institute for Neuropathology
Project: “Global mean methylation serves as independent prognostic marker in glioblastoma”
&
Ayham Moustafa
Laboratory for Radiation Biology and Experimental Radiooncology / Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
Project: “Identification of predictive proteome profiles in prostate cancer sensitive to PARP and/or ERG inhibition plus irradiation”
- 2021 – Shweta Godbole
ZMNH
Project: “Integrated analysis of epigenetic and proteomic data in medulloblastoma”
&
Moritz Kaune
II. Medical Clinic and Polyclinic
Project: “In vivo investigations of the anticancer activity of a derivative of the marine alkaloid Ascididemine in androgen-independent and neuroendocrine prostate cancer”
&
Benedikt Markmann
Clinic for General, Visceral, and Thoracic Surgery / Institute for Tumor Biology
Project: “The impact of the site of blood draw and tumor manipulation on the detectability of cell-free DNA and circulating tumor DNA as a potential biomarker for prognosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma”
Hubertus Wald Doctoral Scholarships
The UCC Hamburg and the Hubertus Wald Foundation are offering doctoral scholarships in the field of tumor biology, cancer research, and therapy. The scholarship provides support of €650 per month for twelve months.
Qualified young medical students who are interested in a long-term commitment to experimental or clinical cancer research are invited to apply. The scholarships are intended to enable the respective doctoral candidates to focus primarily on the content of their doctoral thesis for at least one year.
The eligibility criteria are primarily based on the scientific quality of the doctoral thesis, and the respective financial needs of the doctoral candidates are also taken into account. Funding is available for both experimental approaches and clinical investigations in the context of clinical studies or data evaluations. The selection is made by the board of directors of the UCC Hamburg.
- 2025
Arkadi Akopyan – Functional analysis of the AKT isoforms in circulating tumor cells from a colorectal cancer patient
Viktoria Nickel – Investigation of the Cross-Reactivity and Phenotype of Virus-Reactive, Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Glioblastoma
Davina David – SIMPLE PETUNIA – Soluble Immune Mediators in the Prognosis of diverse malignancies and the personal anti-tumor immune surveillance ability
- 2024
Noah Krumsiek – Subproject “ScreenAng”: Assessment of the disease situation of people with incurable, progressive diseases by relatives: possible influencing factors and comparison with the treating physicians
Jenna Sophie Schöllhorn – Circulating tumor cells as prognostic marker for ovarian cancer patients in clinical trials
Noelle Samira Jacob – Retrospective data analysis of patients with angiosarcoma at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, including data from 2000 – 2023
- 2023
Jeannine Bollmann – Identification and clinical relevance of circulating osteoprogenitor cells (COPs) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in osseous metastatic breast carcinoma
Malte Friedrich – Detailed immunophenotypic analysis and therapeutic evaluation of the TIGIT immune checkpoint axis in acute myeloid leukemiaShari Schneider – Definition of a biomarker panel for predicting response or resistance to therapy with tebentafusp in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma
Yagana Wahid – Functional relevance of the combinatorial targeting of CD39 and CD73 in combination with TIGIT/PVR/PVRL2 axis in multiple myeloma
- 2022
Julius Klein – The pathogenetic role of the BMPR2 signaling pathway in the tumorigenicity of lung adenocarcinomas
Niklas Kruppa – Immunotherapeutic approaches in AMLLotte Stegat – Characterization of spinal diffuse midline gliomas, H3 K27M-mutated
Paulina Sophie Witte – Evaluation of the gut microbiome as a biomarker for survival and response to mFOLFIRINOX chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer
We regularly report on the Hubertus Wald Research Awards in the UCC Hamburg News
All prize money amounts are subject to change. If research prizes are awarded to multiple individuals, the prize money may be divided.
Further information
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