Young Bridge Builder from Würzburg
11/25/2025Hannes Keiling, PhD student at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, has won first prize at the Mexican Science Day in Berlin. He can now use the 12,000 euros he won to plan a scientific workshop in Mexico.
A process that can help to decipher disease mechanisms, among other things: Hannes Keiling is researching this. The 25-year-old is a doctoral student at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Würzburg and started his doctoral project with Professor Jürgen Seibel in January 2025.
Keiling is currently not allowed to say exactly what his project is about - the risk of jeopardising potential patents is too great. Just this much: "I'm working in the field of basic research in connection with new therapies for chronic diseases."
Keiling has already been successful in another field of research where he is obviously not forced to remain silent: at a science slam as part of the Mexican Science Day in Berlin, he impressed the international jury with his clear and captivating presentation style as well as the scientific details of his presentation and was awarded the prize worth 12,000 euros. The title of his presentation: "Building Bridges in Vaccine Chemistry: Smart Multifunctional Linkers for Viral Capsid-Based Vaccines".
Long-standing Contacts between Würzburg and Mexico
Bridges are actually being built here in both a molecular and a geographical sense. The prize money is earmarked for Hannes Keiling to travel to Mexico and organise a workshop that will continue and expand the long-established scientific links between Jürgen Seibel's working group and Mexican researchers.
Among other things, Keiling will be working on the development of the next generation of vaccines. The aim is to design a system that drastically reduces the costs and time needed to develop new vaccines.
Even if this means a lot of work for him in the coming months - the workshop is already scheduled to take place in spring 2026 - Keiling is excited about this opportunity. "Experience abroad is important for personal and professional development," he says. In any case, he can think of few things more interesting than immersing himself in an international research context in this way.
The Mexican Science Day
"Science connects: Mexico & Germany - Beyond Now" was the motto of this year's Mexican Science Day, which was organised by the Mexican Embassy together with the Federal Ministry of Research as part of Berlin Science Week on 4 November. In addition to specialist lectures and panel discussions on AI in science and art and on international scientific cooperation, the programme also included a science slam.
Further information:
Website of Professor Seibel's working group
Mexican Science Day at the FU Berlin
