Dr. Dieter and Siegrun Neukirch Prize

Application call 2024: This will be published sometime in June 2024 (deadline August 31, 2024).

General Info:

The proceeds of the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Foundation can be used to fund outstanding academic work (in particular dissertations and theses for master's and state examination courses) in the following fields at JLU:

• Archaeology
• Classical Languages
• Geography

The prize is intended to promote science and research at Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) with the aim of supporting young scientists.

The work to be awarded the prizes must be fully completed at the time of application and should not be older than one year. Applications for prizes can usually be submitted in the summer of each year; details can be found in the annual call for applications.

Applications are open to individual researchers with independent and outstanding theses.

Details, including the documents to be submitted, can be found in due course in the current call for applications.

The foundation's board of directors usually decides on the selection of the award winners in the fall of each year, and the award ceremony takes place during the Academic Ceremony at the end of November.

Contact details of the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Foundation:
Board of the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Foundation
Management: Ms. Claudia Schick, Chancellor's Office - KB1.2
Ludwigstrasse 23, 35390 Giessen

Point of contact for any queries:
Claudia.Schick, Tel.: 0641 99-12032

Personal details: Prof. Dr. Dieter Neukirch (†) and Sigrun Neukirch (†)

Prof. Dr. Dieter Neukirch researched and taught at JLU Giessen for 20 years as a Professor of Geography Education. He developed new forms of practical and illustrative teaching back in the 1970s.

His widow Sigrun Neukirch, herself a former teacher, continued their life's work and established the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Foundation in 2016.

"For me, it's about doing something meaningful with what I've achieved in life," said Sigrun Neukirch in spring 2017 during a round table discussion with Chancellor Susanne Kraus, JLU's press office, and others; an article about the discussion with Ms. Neukirch on education, the humanities, and values was published in JLU's Uniforum in May 2017.

JLU Giessen mourns the loss of Sigrun Neukirch, who passed away on November 6, 2020 at the age of 86. Sigrun Neukirch had established the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Foundation in 2017 to promote young academics in the humanities at JLU. Linking the foundation to a university 'as a place of freedom' and specifically to JLU was a well-considered step for her. The benefactor also chose the subjects carefully. The sponsor was remembered with gratitude at the 2020 Academic Ceremony.

Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Foundation

The legally independent Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Foundation was established at the end of November 2016. Mrs. Sigrun Neukirch established the foundation to support young researchers at JLU - but also in memory of her late husband, the geography professor, Prof. Dr. Dieter Neukirch who passed away in 2012. The aim is to recognize outstanding academic theses in the following fields:

• Archaeology
• Classical Languages
• Geography

The purpose of the foundation is realized by awarding at least one prize for outstanding scientific work each year, which should be endowed with at least €4,000. Further details are set out in the foundation's statutes and in the annual announcement.

New: For the first time in 2024, the Neukirch Foundation is also inviting applications for other foundation purposes (in addition to the already established Neukirch Prize). Applications are possible for the following:

• Subsidies for publications
• Material and travel expenses
• Granting (partial) scholarships (here: graduate scholarships and postdoctoral scholarships).

See the current call for applications and a form that only needs to be completed for applications for scholarships.

The board currently consists of the following members:

• Ms. Susanne Kraus, JLU's Director of Finance and Administration (chairman of the foundation by virtue of her office)
• Prof. Katharina Lorenz, representative of the subject area Classical Archaeology
• Prof. Dr. Helmut Krasser, Representative of the subject area Classical Languages
• Prof. Dr. Andreas Dittmann, representative of the subject area Geography
• Dr. Ulrich Wacker as successor to the founder of the foundation, Sigrun Neukirch (classical philologist), who was a member of the board of directors during her lifetime.

Previous prizewinners:

2023:

• Dr. Marie-Louise Litmeyer received a Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize for her dissertation Comparison of methods for the estimation of spatial interaction processes and forecasts of mobility flows.
• James D. Johnson's master's thesis Between Green-Making and Greenwashing: Perspectives for Geographers on the Concept of Sustainability in an Economic Context was also awarded the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize.

2022:

In 2022, 3 prizes were awarded for outstanding work:

• Mr. Maximilian Höhl received a Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize for his dissertation Life in Triumphs—The Roman Triumph as a Conceptual Metaphor in the Literature of the Late Republic and Early Imperial Period.
• Dr. Eshak Gris' dissertation titled PALEOGEOGRAPHY OF EGYPT ABOUT 2000 B.P. Geospatial analysis and Cartographic Verification of the Journey of The Holy Family using GIS and Remote Sensing was also awarded a Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize.
• Another prizewinner in 2022 was Ms. Sina Happel (M.Sc.); she received a Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize for her work titled Adapting to climate change to increase urban resilience—an analysis of the integrated climate protection sub-concept of the city of Offenbach am Main.

2021: 

• Dr. Dorothea Hamilton was awarded the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize for her excellent dissertation On the extractivist handling of resource wealth in post-civil war countries in Latin America. Conflicts over gold in Peru and Colombia.

• Moreover, Mr. Leon Schmieder also received a Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize for his dissertation Description as a Mode of Narration in Late Antique Latin Poetry.

2020:

• Dr. des. Wiebke Nierste was awarded the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize for her excellent dissertation Ekphrastic Poetry in the Latin Language of Late Antiquity.
• Ms. Piephoh also received a Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize for her outstanding Master's thesis titled Impact of energy expenditure for agricultural activities in rural areas of eastern Uganda.

2019:

• Mr. Huchthausen's master's thesis Mobility of first-year students—changes in the catchment area of Justus Liebig University between 1997 and 2016 was awarded the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize in 2018.

• Dr. Schmieder also received the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize for her dissertation Image and text on Roman mosaics. Modes and functions of intermedial configurations in the context of 3rd-5th century domestic culture.

2018:

• Dr. Maria Backhaus' dissertation Caedis imago—Murder images. Vivid enumerations of lethal violence in Seneca and Lucan was awarded the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize in 2018.
• Moreover, Dr. Helge Baumann received a Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize for his dissertation The epic in view. Literary role constructions in Martial's Epigrams and Statius' Silvae

2017:

• Dr. Jan Schneider's dissertation Rural settlement structures in Roman Spain; The Vera Basin and the Camp de Tarragona—two micro-regions in comparison was awarded the Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize in 2017.

• Moreover, Mr. Jonas Schaaf received a Dr. Dieter and Sigrun Neukirch Prize in 2017 for his master's thesis Natural resources and state collapse in Africa; root cause analysis using process tracing based on selected example countries.