Heineken Young Scientists Awards
Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Medical/Biomedical Sciences 2026
Miguel Leung
‘Unravelling the 3D structures of proteins reveals how a cell works, and therefore also what goes wrong in disease’
In many forms of infertility, it has been established that something is going wrong with sperm or egg cells, but exactly what remains unclear. Miguel Leung (1996) is trying to unravel that mystery by closely studying the molecules in these cells. As a structural biologist at the Hubrecht Institute, he combines cryo-electron microscopy with AI to visualise protein structures at a resolution that was previously inaccessible. For his research, he is receiving the Heineken Young Scientists Award for Medical/Biomedical Sciences 2026.
More information can be found here.
Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Humanities 2026
Yusuf Çelik
‘Through my research, I want to show what people were thinking and feeling in the past and how they viewed the world, so that we can better understand our history in all of its complexity and diversity’
Over the centuries, religions have adopted all sorts of ideas and customs from each other. Yusuf Çelik (1986), assistant professor of Digital Humanities and Islam at VU University Amsterdam, investigates exactly how these cross-pollinations came about. Using AI, he peruses and analyses millions of pages of historical texts –work that would otherwise take researchers many years to complete. For his research, he is receiving the Heineken Young Scientists Award for Humanities 2026.
More information can be found here.
Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Natural Sciences 2026
Ayushi Rastogi
‘I want to contribute to software systems that society can rely on every day’
Software is intricately intertwined with virtually every aspect of our lives, from paying by card at the supermarket to checking in to board a train. When software fails, it can disrupt the daily lives of millions of people. Ayushi Rastogi (1989), assistant professor of software engineering at the University of Groningen, investigates how software can be developed to be reliable and future-proof – especially in light of the ever-increasing role claimed by AI. For her research, which affects both academia and industry, she is receiving the Heineken Young Scientists Award for Natural Sciences 2026.
More information can be found here.
Heineken Young Scientists Award in the Social Sciences 2026
Anne Urai
‘I hope to gain an even better understanding of how people respond to information, so that we can more effectively encourage sustainable behaviour’
How do people make choices, and what happens in our brains when we do? Anne Urai (1988), assistant professor of cognitive neuroscience at Leiden University, investigates how our brains process information and use it to make decisions. In applying the resulting insights to current issues in society, she hopes to gain a better understanding of what motivates people to adopt sustainable behaviour. For her research, she is receiving the Heineken Young Scientists Award for Social Sciences 2026.
More information can be found here.
Heineken Prizes
Dr H.P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics 2024
Ruedi Aebersold and Matthias Mann
A tribute to the field that analyses the large-scale network of proteins: proteomics
