Two bioinformatics scientists have been awarded the Max Planck Research Prize for International Cooperation, each of which carries a cash award of €750,000 (USD $915,900) to be spent over a period of 5 years.

Martin Vingron, 42, director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, and Eugene W. Myers, 50, professor of computer science and molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, were honored Thursday (June 24) at a ceremony in Stuttgart.

In past years, the annual prize was awarded to as many as 12 researchers with cash payments of €150,000 (USD $183,200), but was modified this year to make the prize more internationally attractive. The prize, awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Max Planck Society with additional funding support from the Germany Ministry of Education and Research, now will go to only two researchers, one based inside Germany and one...

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