Kaufmann-Hillenkamp Prize

Award to recognise outstanding mass spectrometry-based research into little-studied diseases in Europe.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Massenspektrometrie (DGMS – German Society for Mass Spectrometry) was founded in 1997 and has members from within universities, industry, research facilities and government laboratories. Members’ interests include the development of techniques and mass spectrometry devices, their application to analytical as well as fundamental questions and the detection of substances in chemistry, biosciences, medicine, geology, forensics and physics.

The Kaufmann-Hillenkamp Prize (Kaufmann-Hillenkamp-Preis) is presented by DGMS with financial support from TransMIT GmbH. Named after two pioneers of medical mass spectrometry, Raimund Kaufmann (1934-1997) and Franz Hillenkamp (1936-2014), the award honours scientists who have made a significant contribution to research into neglected or rare diseases through the use and further development of mass spectrometry methods or equipment.

The prize is intended to promote two previously neglected areas of research: 

• Neglected and poverty-related diseases such as infections transmitted by parasites or insects, as well as snake bite poisoning.
• Rare genetic diseases such as Friedreich’s ataxia, sickle cell anaemia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The award is presented for the first time in 2026.