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To acknowledge and recognise outstanding researchers (≤ 12 years after PhD*) working in European industry and academia, EFMC established the "EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Industry" and the "EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Academia".
The two prizes are given annually and consist of:
The 2027 Prize winners will be invited to give an oral communication at the EFMC International Symposium on Advances in Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry 2027), scheduled to be held in Edinburgh, United Kingdom from August 30 to September 2, 2027.
The eligibility criteria are as follow:
Additional criteria for candidates working in Industry
At least 50% of the candidate’s career, including their research activities, publications and patents, must have been undertaken in an industrial setting in Europe.
Additional criteria for candidates working in Academia
Candidates must hold a career-track position at a university or academic research institute in Europe, and the majority of their research must have been undertaken in Europe.
Please note: The EFMC is considering reducing the eligibility period for scientists working in academia from 12 to 10 years after completion of their PhD, with effect from 2028. Prospective candidates are advised to take this potential change into consideration.
*In accordance with the EFMC core values of equal opportunities and inclusiveness; Maternity leaves, as well as leaves taken for health or private reasons are considered in the ≤ 12 years after PhD limit.
Nominations must be submitted by the candidate’s supervisor and include:
Applications must include:
To acknowledge and recognise outstanding young medicinal chemists and chemical biologists (≤ 12 years after PhD) working in European industry and academia, EFMC established the "EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Industry" and the "EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Academia".
The two prizes are given annually and consist of:
For the 2026 edition, the prize-winners are invited to give an oral communications at the EFMC Medicinal Chemistry 2026, scheduled to take place in Basel, Switzerland on September 6-10, 2026. Two additional nominees are also identified and acknowledged as most meritorious runners-up.
The selection committee designated Prof. Daniel Merk (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany) as the winner of the 2026 EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Academia.
Daniel Merk is Full Professor/Chair of Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry at Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich. His research mainly focuses on chemical tool development for orphan nuclear receptors and the application of chemical language models for molecular design. Daniel Merk studied Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy at LMU and obtained his PhD in Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry from Goethe University (GU) Frankfurt in 2015. He was a Junior Group Leader in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at GU and Postdoctoral ETH Fellowship Scholar at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich before he finished his Habilitation in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at GU in 2019. Between 2019 and 2021, he was Independent Group Leader at GU before joining LMU as Chair of Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry in 2021. His work was recognized with the Aventis Life Science Bridge Award (2019), the GDCh/DPhG Innovation Award in Medicinal Chemistry (2020) and an ERC starting grant (2021).
Dr Luca Laraia (Technical University of Denmark, Denmark) and Dr Benjamin Schumann (Dresden University of Technology, Germany) have been recognised as the most meritorious runners-up.
The selection committee designated Dr Fabian Hulpia (Johnson&Johnson, Belgium) as the winner of the 2026 EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Industry.
Fabian Hulpia is a Principal Scientist at Johnson&Johnson in Beerse, Belgium, focused on small-molecule oncology discovery in Global Discovery Chemistry. Trained as a pharmacist, he completed a PhD and postdoctoral work in medicinal chemistry at Ghent University and has helped advance oncology programs to clinical candidate nomination. He currently leads innovative targeted therapy projects across the portfolio.
Dr Maria Majellaro (Celtarys Research, Spain) and Dr Stig Friis (AstraZeneca, Sweden) have been recognised as the most meritorious runners-up.
EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Industry
EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist or Chemical Biologist in Academia
