Croat Wins Germany’s Most Prestigious Science Award

Croatian scientist Ivan Dikic has been awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz award for 2013, the most prestigious science award in Germany. The award is given for scientific contributions and brings with it a 2.5 million euro prize, the largest grant for any scientific prize in the world.

Dikic, who is head of the Institute of Biochemistry II and Director of the Buchmann Institute of Molecular Life Sciences at the Goethe University Frankfurt, was given the award for his research work on tumors and in particular his pioneering work in understanding the Ubiquitin Code that regulates multiple biological processes.

Ivan Dikic (46) was born in Zagreb, where he was trained as a medical doctor and obtained his PhD in molecular biology, while working under the supervision of Joseph Schlessinger at the New York University Medical Center. Dikic established the Laboratory for Tumor Biology at the Medical School in Split, Croatia, where he supports training and education of students.