Research Award

The Robert Koch Prize 2025, endowed with 120,000 Euro, will be awarded to microbiologist Rotem Sorek. The award will be presented on November 14 in Berlin. The awards ceremony will take place at the Robert Koch Institute.

Rotem Sorek is honored for his groundbreaking research on bacterial defense mechanisms against viruses (phages). His discoveries have revealed over 50 previously unknown bacterial immune systems—many of which closely resemble components of the human innate immune system. These findings have reshaped our understanding of immune evolution and opened up new therapeutic possibilities. Sorek’s work also explores how phages evade these defenses and has direct implications for combating antibiotic resistance and developing novel antiviral treatments. His research is already driving clinical applications and marks a major advance in microbiology and immunology.

Currently, Rotem Sorek collaborates closely with Veit Hornung from the Gene Center and Jörg Vogel from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg as part of his Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award.

Robert Koch Foundation press release