FWF Wittgenstein Award

Markus Aspelmeyer

Austria’s most highly endowed research award

With nominees named by the scientific community, winners selected by an international jury of experts, and a €1.9 million endowment that exceeds all other individual funding awards in Austria, the FWF Wittgenstein Award is unique in every respect. With this award, the FWF not only honors exceptional academic careers, but also offers researchers the resources they need to advance their own research work at the highest international level.

 

Der FWF-Wittgenstein-Preisträger Markus Aspelmeyer im Kreise aller ausgezeichneten Forschenden der Austrian Science Awards 2026 im Rathaus vor der FWF-Logowand
© FWF/Klaus Ranger

Target group

The funding program is aimed at outstanding researchers from all disciplines.

Funding goals

The program provides both recognition and support to excellent researchers (up to 60 years of age) who have already produced exceptional work and who occupy a prominent place in the international scientific community.

Funding period and funding amount

  • 60 months
  • €1.9 million

Markus Aspelmeyer 2026

In 2026 the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has awarded the FWF Wittgenstein Award to quantum physicist Markus Aspelmeyer from the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Markus Aspelmeyer is one of the world’s most renowned researchers in the field of quantum optics and quantum optomechanics. His work contributes significantly to our understanding of the boundaries between quantum physics and gravity. He has received numerous awards for his scientific achievements, including the FWF START Award, the Ignaz L. Lieben Award, and the Berthold Leibinger Innovationspreis. The three-time ERC grant winner is, among other things, a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences as well as the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg.

FWF Austrian Science Awards 2026
© FWF/Klaus Ranger
Interview with the award winner