For science that brings people, ideas and research together: Wilhelm Boland receives the Xience Award 2026
From an early interest in nature and its tiniest inhabitants, through outstanding work on chemical communication between organisms, to his long-standing commitment to Jena as a center of research: Prof. Wilhelm Boland combines scientific excellence with a continual commitment to research and support for the next generation of scientists. Over many years, he has made a decisive contribution to the development of the Leibniz-HKI. For this, he received the Xience Award on April 10, 2026.
In recognition of outstanding scientific achievements and as a token of gratitude for long-standing support of the institute, the Leibniz-HKI has been presenting the Xience Award since 2024. The term, a combination of ‘excellence’ and ‘science’, refers not only to the recipient’s commitment to science but also to their own scientific merits. The prize is awarded to renowned scientists who have helped shape the institute’s research profile and continuously promoted its development into a leading research center for life-threatening fungal infections and natural product research in Germany.
As the long-standing director of the neighboring Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Wilhelm Boland has actively supported the Leibniz-HKI and the Beutenberg Science Campus for many years and has had a decisive influence on them, particularly in the field of life sciences.
“His interdisciplinary approach of addressing biological questions through chemical methods has inspired generations of researchers,” emphasizes Christian Hertweck, a former doctoral student of Boland and now head of the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry at the Leibniz-HKI. “For me, he is not only an exceptional scientist, but also an important mentor who has played a key role in guiding my scientific career.”
Together with his former doctoral student Hertweck, award winner Boland planted a serviceberry at the Leibniz-HKI. The climate-resilient tree—native to North America—also symbolizes the international influence of research at the Beutenberg Campus. Source: Anna Schroll/Leibniz-HKI
Actively supporting the next generation of scientists and raising the international profile of Jena as a research hub was a particular priority for Boland. Alongside Prof. Kothe and Prof. Brakhage, he was one of initiators of the Graduate School of Excellence Jena School for Microbial Communication (JSMC), where aspiring scientists from 33 nations are completing their doctoral theses. This provided a solid foundation for the University of Jena to successfully apply for a Cluster of Excellence. Today, more than a hundred scientists from nine research institutions in Jena are working together within the Cluster of Excellence "Balance of the Microverse" on the complex question of how microbial communities are formed and regulated, and how they fundamentally influence life on Earth.
For Boland, however, supporting early-career researchers also meant taking the social environment into account: “Only if the right conditions are in place can we attract the best minds to Jena and help them flourish. So how can we conduct research whilst also taking families into consideration?” Thus, on Boland’s initiative, a children’s day care center was established on the Beutenberg Campus in the early 2000s, amidst the research institutes. Since then, the day care center’s proximity to the workplace has made it easier for many researchers to balance family and career.
A newly planted tree at the Leibniz-HKI will serve as a future reminder of this and numerous other initiatives through which Wilhelm Boland played a decisive role in shaping Jena’s rise to the ‘Champions League’ of science over the decades.
