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Hannes Leitgeb “has shed light on the tradition of mathematical-analytical philosophy by carrying out key historical studies, expanding it with the help of creative ideas, and applying it to numerous phenomena in philosophy and in the cognitive and linguistic sciences. Based on a groundbreaking theory, he has shown how rational convictions and their dependence on new data can be justified” – thus the rationale for the DFG granting the award to the mathematician and philosopher.
In 2010, Hannes Leitgeb left Bristol, United Kingdom, to become the Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Language at LMU Munich. He is the founder and co-director of the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP) and research dean in the Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Religious Studies.
Bettina Valeska Lotsch has been granted the Leibniz Prize for her research into innovative materials that can be used for sustainable sources of energy. She developed a groundbreaking new generation of photocatalysts that help reduce CO2 and an entirely new light storage concept that allows the conversion and storage of solar energy in a single material.
In 2007, Bettina Valeska Lotsch spent two years at the University of Toronto, Canada, with a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship. Since 2017, she has been the director of the Department of Nanochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart.
Wolfram Pernice’s research focuses on neuromorphic photonic computing, which involves neural networks that use light instead of electrons. He has conducted pioneering work in this field. According to the DFG, Pernice’s interdisciplinary research transcends traditional boundaries: “His research findings point the way to innovative and sustainable methods for reducing the energy consumption of AI computer hardware whilst still enabling fast calculations.”
In 2007, the physicist Wolfram Pernice was awarded a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship by the Humboldt Foundation which allowed him to continue his research at Yale University, United States. Since 2021, the professor has been a professor at the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics at Heidelberg University.
Daniel Rückert has received the Leibniz Prize for his pioneering work in artificial intelligence and machine learning which are already widely used in medicine, including in imaging techniques. He has developed novel algorithms that can be used to reconstruct, analyse and interpret biomedical images. As a result of his research, diseases can now be diagnosed and treated more effectively and more individually.
Daniel Rückert was one of the two first Alexander von Humboldt Professors for Artificial Intelligence, an award that brought him to Germany from Imperial College London, United Kingdom. Since 2020, he has been the Humboldt Professor for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Medicine at TUM. He is also a director of the Institute for AI and Informatics in Medicine and the Munich Center for Machine Learning (MCML).
Each prize winner will receive an award of €2.5 million. The Leibniz Prizes will be presented on 19 March 2025 in Berlin.