Dream Biology Award: a new international competition for young scientists with bold visions
16 March 2026
IOCB Prague is launching the first edition of the new international Dream Biology Award, a competition that offers young scientists from around the world the opportunity to present their ambitious scientific visions in the life sciences. The award recognizes original ideas with the potential to significantly advance biological research while also delivering meaningful benefits to society. Submitted projects are expected to be more ambitious than typical ERC or NIH grants. In addition to a unique handcrafted Bohemian glass trophy symbolizing the essence and evolving nature of life, the laureate will receive a financial prize of €10,000.
The competition welcomes ambitious proposals across the biological sciences, including areas such as:
- molecular and cellular foundations of life
- health, disease, and biomedicine
- systems, computational, and synthetic biology
- metabolism, bioenergetics, and biological regulation
- evolution, development, and the origin of life
Applications can be submitted via the online form on the Dream Biology Award website until July 31, 2026. The proposals will be evaluated by an international scientific committee composed of leading experts from prestigious universities and research institutions. The committee is chaired by Tomáš Pluskal (IOCB Prague) and David Sabatini (IOCB Prague / IOCB Boston). Its members include, among others, Victor Ambros, recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, cancer research pioneer Robert Weinberg, and aging biology expert Linda Partridge.
From the submitted proposals, the committee will select five finalists, who will be invited to Prague to present their scientific vision in person during the final event held on December 3–4, 2026, at IOCB Prague.
Dream Biology Award builds on the widely respected Dream Chemistry Award, which has been supporting visionary projects by young scientists in the chemical sciences since 2013. The new competition brings the same philosophy to the life sciences and aims to support ideas that may lead to major scientific breakthroughs in the future.
"The Dream Biology Award competition is unique because it does not require any preliminary results from scientists. Therefore, applicants can truly let their imagination run wild and even propose experiments that the current level of technology does not yet allow, but that may be available in the future," says the chairman of the scientific committee, Tomáš Pluskal.
More information about the Dream Biology Award: www.dreambiologyaward.org.
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