Berlin (dpa) – The scientists behind the BioNTech pharmaceuticals firm Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin have been made members of the Pour le mérite Order. The decision was announced in Berlin by the Order’s chancellor and president of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) Hermann Parzinger. Through their work, the pair of scientists made a decisive contribution to the development of the first vaccine to be approved for Covid-19.
The Germanist Heinrich Detering and the Hamburg-based US choreographer John Neumeier were also made new members of the Order at its most recent meeting in June.
The prestigious order confers membership on those who, in the view of its members, deserve recognition for their achievements in the arts and sciences. Membership is considered the highest honour which can be awarded to scientists and artists in Germany.
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