Reinhart-Heinrich Doctoral Thesis Award
Professor Reinhart Heinrich (1946 – 2006) started his research career in theoretical physics and then moved into biochemistry, becoming a full professor and head of theoretical biophysics at the Humboldt University, Berlin in 1990. He is considered a father of the field that is now named Systems Biology, since he investigated various topics such as modelling metabolic networks and metabolic control theory, modelling of signal transduction networks, nonlinear dynamics as applied to biological systems, protein translocation, lipid translocation, vesicular transport, and even DNA repair. Reinhart Heinrich was always searching for the principles that underlie observations, looking for different perspectives and connecting theoretical abstraction with biological evidence. In this way, he inspired numerous students, gave them insight and direction for future research in modern mathematical and theoretical biology, and organized a large number of memorable conferences.
Gratefully acknowledging his stimulating support of our interdisciplinary field and, in particular, his way of guiding students and young scientists, the Board of ESMTB decided to offer a Doctoral Thesis Award annually to commemorate Reinhart Heinrich and his legacy in mathematical and theoretical biology.
Yearly call for nominations Procedures
Winners of the Reinhart-Heinrich Doctoral Thesis Award
Latest call 2025:
The prize committee has decided to give this year’s Reinhart-Heinrich Doctoral Thesis Award to
Carles Falcó (University of Oxford)
for his thesis Interactions and dynamics in collective cell behaviour.
Motivation: In his thesis, Carles Falcó combines sophisticated mathematics with experimentally validated modelling to increase our understanding of collective cell behaviour.
The prize committee, consisting of Tom Britton (chair), Mirjam Kretzschmar, Kevin Painter, Noemi Picco and Jana Wolf, was very impressed by the high standard of the thesis nominations this year.
- 2024: Simon Syga (PhD from TU Dresden, Germany)
Thesis title: Impacts of genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity on tumor evolution: Mathematical modeling and analysis
- 2023: Kishori Hari (Indian Institute of Sciences, India)
Thesis title: Design Principles of Phenotypic Robustness andPlasticity in Gene Regulatory Networks underlying Cancer Metastasis
- 2022: James Holehouse (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
Thesis title: Model reduction, mechanistic modelling and transience in models of stochastic chemical kinetics
- 2021: Martina Conte (University of the Basque Country, Spain)
Thesis title: Mathematical models for glioma growth and migration inside the brain
- 2020: Lukas Eigentler (Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom)
Thesis title: Modelling dryland vegetation patterns: nonlocal dispersal, temporal variability in precipitation and species coexistence
- 2019: Lisa Maria Kreusser (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Thesis title: Anisotropic nonlinear PDE models and dynamical systems in biology
- 2018: Daniel Nichol (University College Oxford, United Kingdom)
Thesis title: Understanding drug resistance through computational models of the genotype-phenotype mapping
- 2017: Jochen Kursawe (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
Thesis title: Quantitative Approaches to investigating epithelial morphogenesis
- 2016: Stilianos Louca (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Thesis title: The ecology of microbial metabolic pathways
- 2015: Linus J. Schumacher (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
Thesis title: A mathematical exploration of principles of collective cell migration and self-organisation
- 2014:
Aurélie Carlier (KU Leuven, Netherlands)
Thesis title: Multiscale modelling of angiogenesis during normal and impaired bone regeneration
Juan Carlos López Alfonso (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain)
Thesis title: Modeling and optimization of radiotherapy treatment plans
- 2013: Andreas Raue (University of Freiburg, Germany)
Thesis title: Quantitative Dynamic Modeling: Theory and Application to Signal Transduction in the Erythropoietic System
- 2012: Christoforos C. Hadjichrysanthou (City University London, United Kingdom)
Thesis title: Evolutionary models in structures populations
- 2011: Sebastian Höhme (University of Leipzig, Germany)
Thesis title: Agent-based modeling of growing cell populations and the regenerating liver based on image processing
- 2010: Tina Toni (Imperial College London, United Kingdom)
Thesis title: Approximate Bayesian computation for parameter inference and model selection in systems biology
- 2009:
Stefan Legewie (HU Berlin, Germany)
Thesis title: Systems biological analyses of intracellular signal transduction
Max Wolf (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
Thesis title: Adaptive individual differences: The evolution of animal personality
- 2008: Thomas Maiwald (University of Freiburg, Germany)
Thesis title: Dynamical Modeling of Biological Systems
- 2007:
Barbara Boldin (University of Utrecht, Netherlands)
Thesis title: Mathematical aspects of infectious disease dynamics
Antonio Politi (HU Berlin, Germany)
Thesis title: Systems Biology Perspectives on Calcium Signaling and DNA Repair