In his welcoming address, GdF board member Dr. Eckhard Schenke emphasized the aspect of promoting young talent, which runs like a common thread through the work of the Society of Friends of MHH. With this in mind, Prof. Dr. Dr. Markus Cornberg, Director of the Centre for Individualized Infection Medicine (CIIM) and moderator of the anniversary celebration, first presented the KlinStrucMed doctoral programme, in which the Gesellschaft der Freunde der MHH finances 1-2 scholarships each year. A video took the audience into the everyday life of this year's scholarship holder Sanja Shah and showed impressively how the young woman is progressing her doctoral project between the Clinical Department and the laboratory.

The doctoral prize, which was established in 1975, is also a key component in the promotion of young scientists. The Society of Friends invited three of the prizewinners to a panel discussion: Prof. Dr. Sandra Ciesek laid the foundation for a great passion in 2004 with her doctorate on a virological topic and is now Head of Virology at Frankfurt University Hospital. Dr. Dr. Simon Krooss, assistant physician at the MHH, impressed the 2023 selection committee with his basic research, and Prof. Dr. Marie-Luise Dierks, head of the MHH Patient University, has been passionate about science communication since her doctoral thesis in 1996. As different as the doctorates, backgrounds and CVs are, the conclusion is unanimous: "The doctoral prize is simply something special as the first award of a career. The certificate still hangs in my office today," says Ciesek.