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09/30/2025 11:34

Important anniversary at Forschungsverbund: Award for Young Women Scientists turns 25

Patricia Löwe Unternehmenskommunikaton des Forschungsverbundes Berlin e.V.
Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.

Biologist Dr. Afroditi Grigoropoulou receives prestigious Marthe Vogt Award.

In 2025, the Forschungsverbund Berlin e. V. (FVB) will celebrate a special anniversary: the Marthe Vogt Award for outstanding young women scientists turns 25. In the anniversary year, the award goes to biologist Dr. Afroditi Grigoropoulou (Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, IGB). The award presentation ceremony will take place on October 13, 2025 at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.

THE AWARD WINNER
Dr. Afroditi Grigoropoulou defended her innovative doctoral thesis entitled “Open science approaches on assessing global aquatic insect biodiversity” in November 2024. She developed her complex project as a doctoral student in the international “Global Freshwater Biodiversity” research group, led by Dr. Sami Domisch, at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). The biodiversity of aquatic insects is an important marker for the health of an ecosystem, i.e., of freshwater environments. This, in turn, is affected by climate change. For her doctoral project, Grigoropoulou developed the first international, standardized, location-based database for freshwater insects. She also developed tools for mapping rivers – a challenging task since rivers are complex, interconnected, flowing systems unlike the mainland. Finally, Grigoropoulou examined the ecological niche breadth of aquatic insects, i.e., the spatial patterns in which highly specialized insects occur. These species are particularly sensitive to climate change and the associated ecosystem changes.

The benefits and implications of Grigoropoulou’s research are enormous! Using the data and tools she has compiled, developed, and analyzed, we may be able to predict the impact of climate change on the biodiversity of freshwater insects in the future. These insects play essential roles in their ecosystems’ food chains. Thus, Grigoropoulou has made an important contribution to our understanding of this complex issue.

The jury was impressed by the award winner’s research findings, which have already been incorporated into nine publications, as well as her ability to unify a large, international team of researchers around a common goal.

The young scientist, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at IGB, is originally from Greece. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Athens and then moved to Barcelona, where she had already completed an Erasmus year, to pursue her master’s degree in ecology, environmental management, and restoration. While there, she worked in a marine biology lab and eventually specialized in freshwater insects. She came to Berlin and IGB in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.

Grigoropoulou acknowledges that gender discrimination is still an issue in academia. However, thanks to her supportive colleagues and her supervisor, Dr. Sami Domisch, she feels very welcome in her field, even in the male-dominated area of bioinformatics. In her experience, factors such as ethnic background and language barriers often affect the work of scientists in Germany more than gender does. “Recently, I have noticed an increasing political tendency toward xenophobia.” This is why Grigoropoulou is enthusiastic about the fact that, following her emigration to Great Britain, Marthe Vogt supported German Jews, anti-fascists from Franco’s Spain, political prisoners, and others who fled fascism. “Today, we academics are under pressure to remain politically neutral or not to refrain from expressing ourselves. I find that difficult. Neutrality often strengthens the position of the oppressors.”

THE AWARD
The Marthe Vogt Award (formerly known as the Award for Young Women Scientists) was established in 2001 by the Forschungsverbund Berlin. It is named after Marthe Louise Vogt (1903–2003), a pharmacologist and neurologist who researched neurotransmitters. Vogt worked as a senior scientist at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in Berlin-Buch. In 1935, she left Germany due to her opposition to National Socialism and migrated to Great Britain, where she continued her research with great success.

The prize, worth €3,000, is awarded to young women scientists from the Berlin-Brandenburg region who recently submitted outstanding doctoral theses in the research areas of the FVB institutes. These areas include molecular pharmacology, structural biology and chemical biology, new materials, aquatic ecology and biodiversity research, biology, veterinary medicine and environmental research, nanomaterials, quantum materials, optoelectronics and materials science, laser research and light-matter interaction, and applied mathematics. Directors of non-university scientific institutions, as well as professors and habilitated members of university faculties, are eligible to submit nominations. The first award winner, in 2001, was biochemist Dr. Kathrin Plath, who now heads her own lab at UCLA.

THE AWARD CEREMONY
The award presentation ceremony will take place at 18:00 on October 13, 2025, at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. Many high-ranking guests have been invited to the event. As part of the festive ceremony, Dr. Afroditi Grigoropoulou will present her work. Professor Dorothea Fiedler, Deputy FVB Executive Board Spokesperson and Director at the Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, will deliver the welcome address. A special highlight of the event will be a keynote speech by the well-known presenter and science communicator Shary Reeves entitled “Vielfalt denkt weiter – Warum Forschung Empathie braucht” (Diversity thinks ahead — Why research needs empathy).

THE JURY
Professor Dr. Stefan Eisebitt (Chair), Director at the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy
Professor Dr. Jörns Fickel, Director of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
Professor Dr. Dorothea Fiedler, Director at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie
Dr. Camila Mazzoni, researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
Professor Dr. Nathalie Picqué, Director at the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy
Professor Dr. Thomas Schröder, Director of the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung

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Dr. Afroditi Grigoropoulou
Source: Berit Kraushaar
Copyright: BeritKraushaar/FVB

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Criteria of this press release:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars, Students
Biology, Environment / ecology, Oceanology / climate, Zoology / agricultural and forest sciences
transregional, national
Contests / awards, Miscellaneous scientific news/publications
English

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