Young Investigator Award 2026 – Nida Hatice Kaya & Víctor Manuel Flores-Núñez
In 2026, CRC 1182 supported two junior researchers with €10,000 each through the Young Investigator Award. The award aims, on the one hand, to support junior researchers within CRC 1182 by providing them with the opportunity to develop and pursue an independent research project. On the other hand, it enables the CRC 1182 as a whole to benefit from new scientific perspectives and to foster connections across its research projects.
Awardees
Dr. Nida Hatice Kaya is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Sebastian Fraune at the Institute of Zoology and Organismic Interactions, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. She has been awarded the Young Investigator Award 2026 for her proposed project “Beyond microbial recognition: investigating experience-dependent immune plasticity in Nematostella vectensis”.
Dr. Víctor Manuel Flores-Núñez is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Eva Stukenbrock at the Environmental Genomics Lab, Kiel University. He has been awarded the Young Investigator Award 2026 for his proposed project “Niche modification through the hydrolysis of sucrose by a fungal plant pathogen and the impact on
co‐occurring bacteria”.
