The director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig is honoured for his pioneering achievements in the field of paleogenetics

One of Svante Pääbo's most important scientific achievements is the decoding of the Neanderthal genome. His work has revolutionized our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern man, according to the jury. For example, he has shown that Neanderthals and other extinct hominids have made a significant contribution to the lineage of today's people.