Playful Research: Newly Established Mario Markus Prize for Ludic Science Now Seeks Applications

New award offers €10,000 for scientific work in the natural sciences that has emerged from ‘playful’ research approaches.

The Mario Markus Prize for Ludic Science was established by Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh – German Chemical Society) in 2022. It is designed to honour scientific work in the natural sciences that is ‘playful’. For the purpose of the award, the term ‘playful’ is defined as research that includes discoveries that arose from research that was undertaken not with any specific application in mind, but simply out of curiosity about the natural world.

Applications are open to researchers in Germany working in the natural sciences. The award is presented on the basis of scientific work that was published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2017 or later.

The award offers a cash prize of €10,000. In addition, GDCh will cover travel expenses to the award ceremony.

The application deadline is 30 May 2022.

(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)