September 17, 2025
FMI Science Prizes — winners 2025
On September 15-17, the FMI hosted its Annual Meeting in Davos, bringing together the institute’s scientific community, Novartis colleagues and members of the Scientific Advisory Board. A highlight of the event was the award ceremony for the FMI internal science prizes, celebrating achievements in the categories of creative thinking, outstanding PhD thesis, and exceptional postdoc study.
ED FISCHER PRIZE
The Ed Fischer Prize honors an outstanding PhD thesis defended by an FMI student over the previous year. It is named in memory of Edmond H. Fischer (1920–2021), Nobel Laureate in Medicine in 1992 and a long-serving member of the FMI Scientific Advisory Board.
This year’s prize was awarded to Francesca Masoni for her work on chromatin organization. Masoni and her colleagues discovered that the ISWI chromatin remodeler subcomplex NURF plays a key role in positioning nucleosomes to maintain genomic boundaries and ensure proper gene regulation.
The prize committee praised her thesis as highly original, engaging, and well-contextualized, highlighting her strong command of both experimental and computational techniques and her independent leadership of the project from start to finish.
Watch this video about Masoni’s work
Learn more about research in the Schübeler lab
MAX BURGER PRIZE
This prize, awarded for an exceptional paper by a postdoctoral fellow from the previous year, is named in honor of Max M. Burger (1933–2019), who served as Director of the FMI from 1987 to 2001.
Josip Ahel, Aparna Pandey, and Michaela Schwaiger received the Max Burger Prize 2025 for their research on how cells protect our DNA from “jumping genes,” called retrotransposons. They discovered that a protein complex called ChAHP2 acts like a guardian, turning off the most active and potentially dangerous retrotransposons by reading a chemical “off switch” on the DNA. Together, ChAHP2 and another complex called ChAHP form a two-part defense system that keeps a wide range of these genetic threats under control.
Understanding how cells keep retrotransposons in check is a fundamental question in biology, and this work adds a brilliant new piece to that puzzle, the prize committee said.
Learn more about research in the Bühler lab
RUTH CHIQUET PRIZE
The prize honors scientists who have developed an innovative new method or tool that has made a significant impact in their field, demonstrating exceptional creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. It is named after Ruth Chiquet-Ehrismann (1954–2015), an FMI group leader from 1985 to 2015, known for her pursuit of unconventional research topics that ultimately had major impacts on biomedical science.
This year, the Ruth Chiquet Prize was awarded to Magdalena Solyga for her work on how the brain detects sensory mismatches. Solyga’s experiments in mice showed that when expected sensory feedback — such as sound or visual flow — is disrupted, neurons produce a strong “prediction error” signal, and that combined mismatches in multiple senses elicit an even larger, non-linear response.
The prize committee praised the elegant use of accessible technology paired with a creative experimental design that opens new directions for understanding how the brain integrates sensory information.
Learn more about Solyga’s work
Learn more about research in the Keller lab
Francesca Masoni, recipient of the Ed Fischer Prize 2025
From left to right: Josip Ahel, Michaela Schwaiger and Aparna Pandey, recipients of the Max Burger Prize 2025
Magdalena Solyga, recipient of the Ruth Chiquet Prize 2025, who sent a recorded message
FMI ANNUAL MEETING 2025
This year’s Annual Meeting was held in Davos, in the Swiss Alps, over three days, bringing together more than 230 FMI scientists, several colleagues from Novartis, and members of the institute’s Scientific Advisory Board. The program featured a series of scientific presentations by FMI researchers, alongside a plenary lecture delivered by Jan-Michael Peters from IMP Vienna, who studies the molecular mechanisms of chromosome organization. On Tuesday afternoon, attendees enjoyed recreational activities, including hiking and an exciting treasure hunt. In the evening, participants gathered for a gala dinner, followed by the traditional ‘follies’.
