This year’s Clara Immerwahr Award Ceremony
On April 11, Bonnie Murphy from the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt was honored with this year's Clara Immerwahr Award during a festive ceremony at the TU Berlin. UniSysCat would like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt congratulations once again on this success! Bonnie received the award for her „outstanding contributions in elucidating the concepts of biological catalysis in redox complexes in the field of cryogenic electron microscopy“, as the jury stated.
The ceremony was opened by the President of TU Berlin, Geraldine Rauch, and the spokesperson of UniSysCat, Juri Rappsilber. Following a laudatory speech by Prof. Dr. Fraser Armstrong from the University of Oxford, the awardee gave a fascinating presentation on “Machineries in anaerobic CO2 fixation”. The ceremony concluded with a captivating historical lecture on “Clara Immerwahr - Historical insights into her life and work” by Prof. Dr. Annette Vogt, Humboldt University of Berlin, followed by a cheerful reception.
On the day of the award ceremony, Bonnie was interviewed by science magazine ChemistryViews. In the interview, she speaks about her career, her research on protein structure analysis, and the significance of the Clara Immerwahr Award for her scientific journey. The magazine also published a detailed report on the Clara Immerwahr Award and this year's winner. UniSysCat is very proud of the growing recognition this award is receiving and hopes to continue honoring exceptional young female scientists in the years to come.
Photos of the Award Ceremony are found in our media gallery.
The 2025 Awardee Bonnie Murphy
Bonnie Murphy has been leading a research group at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt since 2019. Her research focuses on uncovering the structure and mechanisms of proteins - particularly those of bioenergetic relevance - using single-particle cryo-EM in combination with biochemical, molecular, and electrochemical techniques.
The Award
Every year, UniSysCat honors the outstanding research of an excellent early-career scientist in the field of catalysis with the Clara Immerwahr Award. The award is associated with financial support of 15,000 euros for a research stay at UniSysCat.
The Clara Immerwahr Award Symposium
On the day before the award ceremony, on April 10, UniSysCat hosted the very first Clara Immerwahr Award Symposium at TU Berlin—bringing together former awardees for a vibrant scientific gathering. This unique event was designed as a platform for scientific exchange, interdisciplinary dialogue, and networking—not only for the awardees but also for students, researchers, and interested attendees from across disciplines.
Seven former awardees returned to Berlin to present their current research and share personal insights into their academic journeys. Among them were award winners from the very beginning: Kylie A. Vincent, Awardee 2012, Teresa Santos-Silva, Awardee 2024, Anna Company, Awardee 2015 and Tracy Lohr, Awardee 2018. In addition, the most recent awardees from 2021, Michelle Browne, 2023, Reshma Rao and 2024 Meera Mehta also presented their research.
There were numerous opportunities throughout the day to exchange ideas, make new connections, and foster collaboration. UniSysCat is deeply proud to have brought together these remarkable role models for young researchers. Their openness, advice, and willingness to support others made a lasting impression—particularly on the many enthusiastic young scientists who attended.
We sincerely thank all returning awardees for their inspiring contributions and their outstanding support for the next generation of scientists.
Impressions of the Clara Immerwahr Symposium are also found in our media gallery.