High recognition for young researchers

Aishwarya Acharya has won the Klaus Liebrecht Award, Arvid Becker has been awarded a José Carreras Fellowship 

Two early-career researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing have been honoured. Aishwarya Acharya, a former PhD student, was awarded the 2026 Klaus Liebrecht Award by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Cologne. Arvid Becker was awarded a scholarship for his medical thesis by the German José Carreras Leukaemia Foundation.

The Klaus Liebrecht Award recognises outstanding doctoral theses and dissertations, honouring young researchers for their exceptional scientific achievements. Aishwarya Acharya conducted her doctoral research in Constantinos Demetriades’ laboratory. Her research focused on the mTOR signalling pathway, which is a key regulator of cell growth, metabolism, and ageing processes.

The José Carreras PhD Fellowship, which is supported by the José Carreras Leukaemia Foundation, provides financial aid to medical PhD students who are intensively engaged in leukaemia and blood cancer research. Arvid Becker has been awarded the fellowship for his PhD project investigating mantle cell lymphoma, a rare and currently incurable form of lymph node cancer. His project investigates the role played by the SOX11 protein in the development of the disease and its response to therapies. 

We warmly congratulate Aishwarya Acharya and Arvid Becker on these important awards, and we are delighted that their scientific work has been recognised.