RWTH Celebrates Winners of Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes
Christopher Morris, Junior Professor of Machine Learning on Graphs at RWTH, Kai Markus Schneider, Junior Professor of Experimental Gastroenterology at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, and eight researchers from other universities were now presented with the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize, the most prestigious award for early-career researchers in Germany.
Christopher Morris studied computer science at TU Dortmund University, where he also completed his doctorate in 2019 following a research stay in Stanford (USA). He has been researching and teaching as a junior professor at RWTH since 2022. He is working on developing machine learning methods for networked data and has already made important contributions to the theory of so-called graph neural networks. Morris is researching how artificial intelligence can be used to work with complex data structures. Internationally, he is an outstanding up-and-coming researcher in this exploding field of AI.
His studies show when methods can make reliable predictions and have led to a new class of machine learning methods for graphs that are provably stronger than previously established methods. “Graphs are mathematical abstractions used to model data that capture interactions between entities, for example chemical molecules or social networks. My research group at RWTH is developing machine learning methods to automatically obtain reliable, theoretically sound predictions for such data. I am delighted to have been awarded the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize. It is a strong sign that we are on the right track,” said Morris.
Kai Markus Schneider took up a position at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) after completing his studies and doctorate in Aachen. He returned to Uniklinik RWTH Aachen as Junior Professor for Experimental Gastroenterology and Organ Crosstalk last year thanks to funding from the North Rhine-Westphalian Returning Scholars Program. He specializes in interactions between different organs to develop holistic treatment approaches for complex diseases. The physician Kai Markus Schneider has recently helped further break down the so-called gut-brain axis. A molecular circuit he discovered shows that psychological stress increases intestinal inflammation. These results are applied to modern treatment approaches, which now also aim to reduce stress signals from the brain to the intestine for patients with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases.
“Most diseases of the gastrointestinal tract involve complex interactions between different organ systems. The aim of my research group is to decode these circuits in order to develop new treatment approaches. Being awarded the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize is a great honor and motivation for my future work,” said Schneider. He has been working on this integrative approach since his student days – his research initially focused on how the gut influences inflammatory processes in the liver and bile ducts. The term “gut feeling” has taken on a new meaning through his research, according to the selection committee. Schneider has already received several awards for his work, including the Rising Star Award from United European Gastroenterology last year.
The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize has been awarded to early-career researchers annually since 1977. The prize is intended to support and encourage non-tenured researchers to continue to pursue their academic careers. It is not only their dissertations that are recognized, but in particular that they have subsequently developed an independent scientific profile and enriched their research community with their findings and top scientific achievements can be expected from them in the future.