Science Communication Award for Empathique

The volunteer project Empathique has been awarded this year's Science Communication Award by the Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology Section of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) and the German Society for Psychophysiology and its Application (DGPA). Dr. Sibel Nayman, psychologist and research assistant at the CIMH, accepted the award on behalf of the project as its co-initiator. The Science Communication Award is presented annually at the “Psychology and Brain” conference. It recognizes outstanding achievements in science communication in the field of biological psychology and neuropsychology, as well as innovative concepts that aim to make science in these fields understandable and accessible to a broad public.

The interdisciplinary team at Empathique—consisting of psychologists and experts in graphics and animation—has been producing high-quality videos since 2020 to destigmatize and educate people about mental health. The team also runs its own YouTube channel under the name Empathique. The aim of the project is to promote a scientifically sound and comprehensible understanding of mental illness and to draw attention to possible treatment options. “Science has a responsibility – including when it comes to educating people about mental health. Empathique is committed to evidence-based, accessible, and culturally sensitive knowledge transfer about mental health,” says Sibel Nayman. 
The project has already received funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Social Affairs of Baden-Württemberg, and the CIMH. 

Wilhelm Feuerlein Research Prize for Sabine Hoffmann and Markus Reichert

CIMH researcher Sabine Hoffmann and CIMH visiting scientist Prof. Dr. Markus Reichert (Paris Lodron University of Salzburg) were awarded the Wilhelm Feuerlein Research Prize in the field of basic research for their work "Associations of Menstrual Cycle and Progesterone-to-Estradiol Ratio With Alcohol Consumption in Alcohol Use Disorder: A Sex-Separated Multicenter Longitudinal Study." The award was presented at the German Addiction Congress in Berlin on September 23, 2025.

In their work, which was carried out as part of the Collaborative Research Center TRR 265, Sabine Hoffmann and Markus Reichert show that female sex hormones have an influence on alcohol consumption. The results suggest that a high progesterone-estradiol ratio can reduce the risk of problematic alcohol consumption in women and men. The study opens up new perspectives for personalized and cycle-sensitive therapies in the treatment of alcohol dependence.

Every two years, the Oberberg Foundation Matthias Gottschaldt, the German Addiction Foundation, and the German Society for Addiction Research and Addiction Therapy award the Wilhelm Feuerlein Research Prize in recognition of outstanding scientific work in the field of research on substance-related addictions, in particular alcohol and drug addiction.