The One Health Surveillance team from HIOH receives the award for “Best Research Environment 2024”.
The One Health Surveillance team from HIOH receives the award for “Best Research Environment 2024”.
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Best Research Environment 2024

The One Health Surveillance research group at HIOH wins the “Best Research Environment 2024” award.

Excellent conditions for research, an inspiring atmosphere and fair cooperation: for all this, the research group “One Health Surveillance” (OHS) at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) has been awarded the “Best Research Environment 2024” prize by the Junge Akademie. Under the leadership of Dr. Fee Zimmermann, the OHS group is establishing health and environmental observatories, so-called “One Health Exploratories”, which collect long-term and systematic data on the health of humans, animals and the environment and integrate it into a big picture. The HIOH is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig in cooperation with the University of Greifswald, the University Medicine Greifswald and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut.

The data collection by the observatories includes, amongst other things, clinical monitoring in collaboration with hospitals, innovative wildlife monitoring, long-term observation of human cohorts with frequent animal contacts, and information on dietary habits (e.g., consumption of bushmeat) and social conditions.  This data from model sites in sub-Saharan Africa and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania forms the basis for the scientific work of the HIOH research departments and for numerous collaborative projects. The OHS team promotes innovation through collaboration: it emphasizes ethical guidelines, continuous training and the involvement of the population in scientific studies to improve global health through integrated monitoring.

Dr. Franziska Stoek and Dr. Filipe Dias accepted the award on behalf of the whole OHS research group.
Dr. Franziska Stoek and Dr. Filipe Dias accepted the award on behalf of the whole OHS research group.

The Junge Akademie is the world's first academy for scientists in the early and middle stages of their careers and has developed into an important voice in the German science system in its almost 25-year history. Together with the Volkswagen Foundation, it awarded the prize for the first time this year. The award underlines the importance of support and appreciation in the research environment for outstanding scientific achievements of all team members and recognizes the contribution of each member of the research community to scientific progress.

In March 2025, the jury selected 24 teams from almost 300 applications, ten of which received the award, each worth 10,000 euros, on June 7, 2025. 

The OHS team at HIOH intends to use its prize money for team-building measures and to further develop its ongoing collaborations.

Stephanie Markert

Press contact

Dr Stephanie Markert
Scientific Coordinator