The Gregorio Weber International Prize in Biological Fluorescence (Weber Prize) is awarded for research related to a doctoral (or equivalent) dissertation. All fields of biological fluorescence (experimental, theoretical, or applied) are eligible. The award is conferred approximately every three years and is presented at a selected international scientific meeting. The award is international in scope. A scientific panel evaluates submitted dissertations, and a few finalists will be identified. The winner will receive a cash award of $1,000 and an invitation to present an acceptance lecture at the Weber Symposium. The remaining finalists receive honorable mention awards. Weber Prizes were conferred in 2023, 2017, 2014, 2011, 2008, 2005, and 2002.

The next Weber Prize will be awarded in 2025.

2025 Weber Prize

The winners of the Weber Prize 2025 will be announced on April 30th, 2025.

The winner will receive a $1,000 cash award and an invitation to present an acceptance lecture at the 2025 Weber Symposium in Genoa-Italy.

Gregorio Weber International Prize in Biological Fluorescence

Selection Committees 2025

Coordinators:

Review Panel:

David M. Jameson

University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA.

Leonel Malacrida

Universidad de la República & Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay.

Greg Reinhart
Fernando Stefani
Laura Estrada
Per Nik Hedde
Luca Lanzano
Lorenzo Scipioni
Thorsten Wohland
Chiara Stringari
Ilaria Testa
Elizabeth Hinde

Weber Prize Administrator

For questions and comments about the Weber Prize 2025 please contact:

David Jameson
djameson@hawaii.edu or webersymposium@gmail.com

Leonel Malacrida

lmalacrida@pasteur.edu.uy

Award Requirements

The dissertation must have been accepted and the doctorate conferred between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024.
English is the preferred language. Dissertations not in English must include at least a 5-page summary in English.
Materials should be submitted in digital format (preferably in PDF) to djameson@hawaii.edu and cc'ed to webersymposium@gmail.com.
Deadline for submission: March 31, 2025.

Previous editions awards

Winner 2023

Dr. Lorenzo Scipioni

Universita Degli Studi Di Genoa. Instituto Italiano Di Tecnologia, Italy. Physics.
Thesis Title: Local image correlation methods for the characterization of subcellular structure and dynamics by confocal and super-resolution microscopy.

Honorable mention:

Dr. Arindam Ghosh

Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen, Germany. Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
Thesis title: Single Molecule Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Imaging: Advanced Methods and Applications in Life Sciences.

Dr. Johannes Stein

Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany. Physics.
Thesis title: Localization-Based Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy.

Dr. Luciano A. Masullo

Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Physics.
Thesis title: Photon-efficient fluorescence nanoscopy by scanning light intensity minima.

Selection Committees 2023

Coordinators:

Enrico Gratton, University of California, Irvine, USA
David M. Jameson, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA

Review Panel:

Francesco Cardarelli - Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy
Debora Foguel - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Melike Lakadamyali – University of Pennsylvania
Valeria Levi – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Leonel Malacrida – Univ. de la Republica and Institut Pasteur of Montevideo, Uruguay
Susana Sanchez - Universidad de Concepción, Chile
Thorsten Wohland - National University of Singapore, Singapore
Sergey Tetin – Abbott Laboratories, Illinois, USA
Elizabeth Hinde – University of Melbourne, Australia
Gregory Reinhart – Emeritus Texas AandM - USA

Weber Prize Administrator

For questions and comments about the Weber Prize 2023 please contact:

Enrico Gratton
egratton22@gmail o webersymposium@gmail.com

Weber Prize 2023
c/o Enrico Gratton
University of California, Irvine
Biomedical Engineering Department
3208 Natural Sciences II
Irvine, CA 92697-2715
USA

2017 Weber Prize

Eight applications were received by March 4, 2017.

The winners of the Weber Prize 2017 were announced on May 30, 2017, at the 10th International Weber Symposium on Innovative Fluorescence Methodologies in Biochemistry & Medicine.

The winner received a cash award of $2,500 and an invitation to present an acceptance lecture at the Weber Symposium.

Award Requirements

The dissertation must have been accepted and the doctorate conferred between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2016.
English is the preferred language. Dissertations not in English must include a 10-15-page summary in English.
A maximum of two first (or last) author published manuscripts, arising from the dissertation research, must also be provided. Manuscripts not in English must have an English translation appended.
Materials should be submitted in digital format (preferably in PDF) via the Weber Prize registration web page.
Deadline for submission: March 4, 2017.

Winner 2017

Dr. Rupsa Datta

University of California, Irvine. Biomedical Engineering.
Thesis Title: Label-free fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to study metabolism and oxidative stress in biological systems.

Honorable mention:

Dr. Zeno Lavagnino

University of Genoa. Physics.
Thesis title: Improving selective plane illumination microscopy towards enhanced spatial resolution and imaging depth performances.

Dr. Yang Liu

Emory University. Chemistry.
Thesis title: Development of nanoparticle-based tools to investigate cell mechanotransduction at the living/nonliving interface.

Dr. Leonel Malacrida

Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay. Biology.
Thesis title: Pulmonary surfactant during acute lung injury: from physiopathology to the biophysical aspects of its dysfunction.

Dra. Maria Aurelia Ricci

Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Biomedicine.
Thesis title: Chromatin fibers are formed by heterogeneous groups of nucleosomes in vivo.

Selection Committees 2017

Coordinators:

David M. Jameson, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
Enrico Gratton, University of California, Irvine, USA

Select three finalists:

Luis Bagatolli, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Don C. Lamb, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Germany
Francesco Cardarelli, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
Francisco Barrantes, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Gregory Reinhart, Texas A & M University, USA
Joachim Müller, University of Minnesota, USA
Ulrich Nienhaus, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Laura Estrada, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Michelle Digman, University of California, Irvine, USA
Manuel Prieto, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Portugal
Marcia Levitus, Arizona State University, USA
Sergey Tetin, Abbott Laboratories, USA

Weber Prize Administrator

For questions and comments about the Weber Prize 2017 please contact:

Enrico Gratton

Email: lfd@uci.edu

Weber Prize 2017
c/o Enrico Gratton
University of California, Irvine
Biomedical Engineering Department
3208 Natural Sciences II
Irvine, CA 92697-2715
USA

2014 Weber Prize

Nineteen applications were received by March 1, 2014.

The winners of the Weber Prize 2014 were announced on June 17, 2014, at the 9th International Weber Symposium on Innovative Fluorescence Methodologies in Biochemistry & Medicine.

The winners received a cash award of $2,500 and an invitation to present an acceptance lecture at the Weber Symposium.

The funding for the 2014 prize came from the honorarium to Sergey Tetin for editing Methods in Enzymology volumes 519-520, and the contributions of the Gratton Family through the Maria Pia Gratton foundation.

Winners 2014

Dr. Ankur Jain

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Biophysics and Computational Biology.
Thesis title: Probing cellular protein complexes using single-molecule pull-down.

Dr. Chi-Li Chiu

University of California, Irvine. Developmental and Cell Biology.
Thesis title: 3D Cell-ECM Dynamics Revealed by Innovative Fluorescence Microscopy Methods.

Dr. Per Niklas Hedde

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Institute of Applied Physics (APH).
Thesis title: Light Microscopy Beyond the Diffraction Barrier for Live Cell Studies.

Selection Committees 2014

Coordinators:

David M. Jameson, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
Enrico Gratton, University of California, Irvine, USA

Select three finalists:

Manuel Prieto, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Portugal
María García-Parajo, Institute of Photonic Sciences, Spain
Gregory Reinhart, Texas A & M University, USA
Kazuhiro Oiwa, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan
Amitabha Chattopadhyay, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, India
Michelle Digman, University of California, Irvine, USA
Pierre Moens, University of New England, Armidale, Australia
Luis Bagatolli, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Susana Sánchez, University of Concepción, Chile
Francesco Cardarelli, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
Claus Seidel, University of Düsseldorf, Germany
Debora Foguel, University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Richard Day, Indiana University, USA
Taekjip Ha, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Qiaoqiao Ruan, Abbott Laboratories, USA

Select the winner:

Maïté Coppey-Moisan, French National Centre for Scientific Research, France
Paul French, Imperial College, UK
Joachim Müller, University of Minnesota, USA

2011 Weber Prize

Thirty-eight applications were received by December 10, 2010.

The winner and two finalists of the Weber Prize 2011 were announced at the Biological Fluorescence Subgroup meeting on Saturday, March 5th, 2011.

The winner received a cash award of $2,500 and an invitation to present an acceptance lecture at the 8th International Weber Symposium on Innovative Fluorescence Methodologies in Biochemistry & Medicine, where the award was presented. The remaining two finalists received honorable mention awards of $1,000 each, and were also invited to the Weber Symposium.

Winner 2011

Dr. Bin Wu

University of Minnesota; Physics.
Thesis title: Fluorescence Cumulant Analysis in Fluorescence Fluctuation Spectroscopy.

Honorable mention:

Dr. Buz Barstow

Cornell University; Physics.
Thesis title: Direct Correlation of Protein Structure and Function Using High-pressure X-ray Crystallography.

Dr. Jonas Ries

Technische Universitat Dresden; Biophysics.
Thesis title: Advanced Fluorescence Correlation Techniques to Study Membrane Dynamics.

Selection Committees 2011

Select three finalists:

William W. Mantulin, University of California, Irvine, USA, Panel Moderator
Keith Berland, Emory University, USA
Philippe Bastiaens, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Germany
Andrea de Oliveira, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Alberto Diaspro, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
John Eid, Pacific Biosciences, USA
Zygmut Gryczynski, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, USA
Karsten König, University of Saarland, Germany
Moshe Levi, University of Colorado Health Science Center, Denver, USA
Marcia Levitus, Arizona State University, USA
Pierre Moens, University of New England, Armidale, Australia
Joachim Müller, University of Minnesota, USA
Manuel Prieto, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal
Gregory Reinhart, Texas A & M University, USA
Saveez Saffarian, University of Utah, USA
Peter So, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Sergey Tetin, Abbott Laboratories, USA
Jane Vanderkooi, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Martin vandeVen, University of Hasselt, Belgium
Xunbin Wei, Fudan University, China

Select the winner:

Carlos Bustamante, University of California, Berkeley, USA, Panel Moderator
Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, National Institutes of Health, USA
Xiaoliang Sunney Xie, Harvard University, USA

2008 Weber Prize

Forty-three applications have been received by December 14, 2007.

The winner and two finalists of the Weber Prize 2008 were announced at the Biological Fluorescence Subgroup meeting on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008.

The winner received a cash award of $2,500 and an invitation to present an acceptance lecture at the 7th International Weber Symposium on Innovative Fluorescence Methodologies in Biochemistry & Medicine, where the award was presented. The remaining two finalists received honorable mention awards of $1,000 each, and were also invited to the Weber Symposium.

Winner 2008

Dr. Long Cai

Currently at the Californian Institute of Technology, Department of Biology
Thesis title: Life at low copy number: a single molecule adventure in live cell gene expression

Honorable mention:

Dr. Chirlmin Joo

Currently at the Seoul National University, School of Biological Sciences, Korea.
Thesis title: Single-molecule FRET study on the RecA-mediated DNA repair.

Dr. Felipe Mora-Bermúdez

Currently at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.
Thesis title: Quantitative analysis of the structural dynamics of mitotic chromosomes in live mammalian cells.

Selection Committees 2008

Selected three finalists:

William W. Mantulin, University of California, Irvine, USA, Panel Moderator
Patrick R. Callis, Montana State University, USA
Amitabha Chattopadhyay, Centre Cellular Molecular Biology, India
Yan Chen, University of Minnesota, USA
Parkson Lee-Gau Chong, Temple University, USA
Ignacy Gryczynski, University of North Texas Health Science Center, USA
Don C. Lamb, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Germany
Valeria Levi, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Qiaoqiao Ruan, Abbott Laboratories, USA
Paul W. Wiseman, McGill University, Canada
Warren R. Zipfel, Cornell University, USA

Selected the winner:

Robert M. Clegg, University of Illinois, USA, Panel Moderator
Maite Coppey-Moisan, Institut Jacques Monod, France
Kenneth A. Jacobson, University of North Carolina, USA

Winner 2005

Dr. Ahmet Yildiz

Currently at University of California, San Francisco in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology
Thesis title: Fluorescence imaging with one nanometer accuracy: Determination of how processive motors walk

Honorable mention:

Dr. Harold Kim

Currently at Stanford University; Stanford, CA
Thesis title: Single molecule studies of dynamic biological processes

Dr. Saveez Saffarian

Currently at Harvard Medical School/CBR; Boston, MA
Thesis title: Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy: Statistical analysis and biological applications

Selection Committees 2005

Selected three finalists:

Enrico Gratton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, Panel Moderator
Luis Bagatolli, University of So. Denmark
Yves Engelborghs, University Leuven, Belgium
Sergio Ferreira, Fed. University Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Jay Knutson, National Institute of Health, USA
Kazuhiro Oiwa, KARC, Japan
Suzanne Scarlata, SUNY at Stony Brook, USA
Sergey Tetin, Abbot Laboratories, USA

Selected the winner:

David Jameson, University of Hawaii, USA, Panel Moderator
William Sawyer, University of Melbourne, Australia
Antonie Visser, University of Wageningen, The Netherland

Winner 2002

Dr. Mark Wallace

Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Thesis title: A Study of DNA Conformation Dynamics using Single-molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer

Honorable mention:

Dr. Yan Chen

University of Minnesota, Physics Department, Minneapolis, MN
Thesis title: Analysis and Applications of Fluorescence Fluctuation Spectroscopy

Dra. Yana Reshetnyak

Institute for Cancer Research, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Department of Molecular Biology and Immunology, Fort Worth, TX
Thesis title: Relation Between Fluorescence Parameters of Tryptophan Residues and Structural and Physical Parameters of Microenvironments of Indole Rings in Proteins

Selection Committees 2002

Selected three finalists:

David Jameson, University of Hawaii, USA, Panel Moderator
Beniamino Barbieri, ISS Inc., USA
Robert M Clegg, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Joseph R Lakowicz, Univeristy of maryland, Baltimore, USA
Edmund D Matayoshi, Abbott Laboratories, USA
Catherine A Royer, INSERM, France
William Sawyer, University of Melbourne, Australia
Jerson L Silva, Federal University Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Antonie JWG Visser, University of Wageningen, The Netherland

Selected the winner:

Enrico Gratton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, Panel Moderator
Thomas M Jovin, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
Kazuhiko Kinosita, Keio University, Japan

Winner 2025

Dr. Yanbo Wang

Johns Hopkins University, Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, School of Medicine, USA.
Thesis Title: Genome Oligopaint via Local Denaturation Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (GOLD FISH)

Honorable mention:

Bahar Asadipour

Laboratory for Optics and Bioscience, École Polytechnique, Paris, France.
Thesis title: Nonlinear optical microscopy of nervous tissue: lipid and metabolism imaging

Jacob Kastel-Hansen

School at the Faculty of Science,University of Copenhagen
Thesis title: Accelerating Biological Discoveries by Decoding Single-Particle Spatiotemporal Dynamics Using Machine Learning

Ashleigh Solano

Department of Science, Melbourne School of Physics. THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Thesis title: Brightness correlation spectroscopy quantifies protein dynamics as a function of stoichiometry within live cells.

Selection Committees 2025

Coordinators:

David M. Jameson, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
Leonel Malacrida, Universidad de la Republica & Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay.

Review Panel:

Laura Estrada – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Francesco Cardarelli - Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy
Per Nik Hedde - Systems Engineer at Zeiss, Gernamy
Elizabeth Hinde – University of Melbourne, Australia
Luca Lanzano – University of Catania, Italy
Gregory Reinhart – Emeritus Texas AandM - USA
Lorenzo Scipioni – Centre de Recherche en Cancerologie de Toulouse, France
Fernando Stefani - CIBION, Argentina
Chiara Stringari – CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, France
Ilaria Testa – KTH, SciLifeLab, Sweden
Thorsten Wohland - National University of Singapore, Singapore

International Weber Symposium

Gregorio Weber International Prize in Biological Fluorescence

David M. Jameson

University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA.

Leonel Malacrida

Universidad de la República & Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay.

Greg Reinhart Fernando Stefani Laura Estrada Per Nik Hedde Luca Lanzano Lorenzo Scipioni Thorsten Wohland Chiara Stringari Ilaria Testa Elizabeth Hinde

Winner 2025

Dr. Yanbo Wang

Honorable mention:

Selection Committees 2025

Greg Reinhart
Fernando Stefani
Laura Estrada
Per Nik Hedde
Luca Lanzano
Lorenzo Scipioni
Thorsten Wohland
Chiara Stringari
Ilaria Testa
Elizabeth Hinde