Marcel Benoist Workshop 2025

Join the workshop with the laureates of the Marcel Benoist and Latsis Swiss Science Prizes

The Marcel Benoist Foundation invites interested young people to attend a workshop with three Marcel Benoist and Latsis prizewinners, and to be part of the prestigious award ceremony. You will interact directly with the scientists, learn more about their field of research and scientific careers, and have a close exchange during a small workshop.

Switzerland’s two most prestigious science prizes, the Marcel Benoist and the Latsis Swiss Science Prizes will once again be presented together in November 2025. Often referred to as the ‘Swiss Nobel Prize’, the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize is endowed with CHF 250,000 and honours researchers whose work is “of benefit to human life”. The Latsis Swiss Science Prize honours scientists with an academic age of no more than 10 who have made outstanding scientific achievements in Switzerland. The prize is endowed with CHF 100,000. 

The 2025 Marcel Benoist Prize is awarded to Tobias J. Kippenberg, whose pionneering innovations in optical microresonators and optical frequency combs bridge quantum physics and classical mechanics. The 2025 Latsis Prize is awarded to Saskia Stucki, for her interdisciplinary research in animal law, human rights, and environmental law, which seeks to establish legal frameworks for animal rights.

Additionally, last year’s Latsis prizewinner Mackenzie Mathis from EPFL will join the workshop in order to cover all scientific fields. She was awarded the prize for her contributions in the field of machine learning in neuroscience.

The programme is distributed over two days (details will be shared with the selected participants):

Workshop with the laureates at the University of Bern

• Wednesday, 5 November 2025, from 13:30 to about 19:00.
• Co-organized with the Science Olympiad and Schweizer Jugend forscht.
• Moderated by Reatch! Research. Think. Change. – an independent think tank for critical scientists and science enthusiasts in Switzerland.
• Supported by the French Embassy in Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Award ceremony in the Federal Palace, Bern

• Thursday, 6 November 2025, starting at 18:00.

Requirements:

• Education level:
  • Last year of secondary level (Gymnasium, apprenticeship)
  • or gap year or similar
  • or student on first or second year of bachelor’s level
• Age: no older than 25 years
• Languages: The workshop will be held mainly in English. However, contributions in German, French or Italian are also warmly welcome and the more languages you speak or understand (DE/FR/IT/EN), the better!
• Otherwise, no prerequisites are necessary, and it does not matter what scientific background you have, just be open minded and curious!

Cost:

• Free of charge, including refreshment and an after-work drink, award ceremony with aperitive and travel reimbursement for both days (with public transport, effective cost only).

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