2024 Award Winner Dr. Clemens Plaschka

Group Leader at IMP – Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, Austria

Clemens Plaschka, born 1989, receives the € 20.000,-- award for his research on the molecular machines that generate and export messenger RNA.

The award is given in recognition of his ground-breaking discoveries revealing the mechanisms by which messenger RNA is produced and matured. mRNA production involves multiple complex cellular machines that process and guide the maturation and ultimate export of mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.

The Jury: „ Plaschka’s structural and mechanistic investigations have revealed fundamental insights into how cells express genes and his work has implications for human diseases involving mutations in core mRNA processing machines.”

Clemens Plaschka: „I am absolutely delighted to receive the 2024 Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators. This award is a special recognition for our highly motivated research team, whose efforts have made this possible. I am also very thankful for the exceptional support by the IMP and Boehringer Ingelheim, the ERC, our colleagues at the Vienna BioCenter and beyond, as well as my family. The award recognizes our contributions to reveal the structural mechanisms by which a human mRNA is made. Yet many questions remain. In the coming years, we look forward to further understanding the molecular processes that regulate how mRNA is made and destroyed.”

The official prize ceremony took place on June 27, 2024 at the Advanced Training Centre of the

EMBL in Heidelberg. The laudation honoring Clemens Plaschka‘s achievements was held by Award

Jury Chair Prof. Laura Machesky, University of Cambrdige, United Kingdom.