German Zoological Society


The German Zoological Society is a learned society in Germany, founded in 1890 at Frankfurt am Main. It is registered as a non-profit organisation based in Munich.
WWW dzg-ev.de

Activities

The DZG represents German-speaking zoologists and corresponds with other regional and national zoological societies. It represents the interests of zoology among the scientific learned societies and can be consulted by politicians for advice. Membership is open to any zoologist or student of zoology; the DZG currently has about 1500 members. It organises an annual meeting, which until 2004 was held during the week of Pentecost. However, as many universities no longer have a recess during that period, since 2005 the date of the meeting has been decided by the host university.
The DZG publishes its own scientific journal, Frontiers in Zoology, founded in 2004. It is published in cooperation with the online publisher BioMed Central. The DZG formerly published the Zoologische Anzeiger and Zoologische Jahrbücher, since discontinued.
The DZG awards several prizes to support or recognise scientific work.

Karl Ritter von Frisch Medal

The Karl Ritter von Frisch Medal is a scientific prize of the DZG. The Medal has been awarded every two years since 1980, to scientists who have distinguished themselves through outstanding zoological work that integrates knowledge from numerous biological disciplines. It is the most prominent scientific prize for zoology in Germany, with an award sum of 10,000 Euros.
List of medallists:


Horst Wiehe Dissertation Prize

The Dissertation Prize of the Horst-Wiehe-Stiftung has been awarded every two years at the DZG Annual Meeting since 1991, to an outstanding doctoral or habilitation thesis on a zoological subject. The prize sum is 2000 Euros.

  • 2021 Fabrizia Ronco
  • 2019 Manon Schweinfurth
  • 2017 Markus Lambertz
  • 2015 Alexander Blanke
  • 2013 Jan Clemens
  • 2011 Joachim Haug
  • 2009 Sandra Steiger
  • 2007 Lutz Fromhage
  • 2005 Martin Fanenbruck
  • 2003 Wolfgang Forstmeier
  • 2001 Klaus Fischer
  • 1999 Sylvia Ortmann
  • 1997 Erhard Strohm
  • 1995 Thomas Lubjuhn
  • 1993 Heike Hadrys
  • 1991 Henning Schneider

Werner Rathmayer Prize

The Werner Rathmayer Prize is a special prize for original work in zoology, within the Jugend forscht competition for young scientists. It has been awarded annually since 2004. The recipient receives a prize of 500 Euros and free admission to the DZG Annual Meeting in the following year.

  • 2021 Benjamin Palm
  • 2019 Falco Eigner
  • 2017 Stefan Kemmerich
  • 2016 Nora Siefert
  • 2015 Thomas Lindner
  • 2014 Freia-Raphaella Lorenz
  • 2013 Antonia Trede
  • 2012 Linda Marx
  • 2011 Miriam Kreß & Louise Hildebrand
  • 2010 Lisa Hallex
  • 2009 Jessica Oberheim
  • 2008 Johannes Dill
  • 2007 Wieland Heim
  • 2006 Markus Neumann
  • 2005 Sascha Hoinkiss
  • 2004 Daniel Schütz

Presidents of the DZG



Honorary members



Networking

The Society is a member of the Deutschen Nationalkomitee Biologie (DNK), representing the interests of life scientists in international organisations. It is also a member of the Verband Biologie, Biowissenschaften und Biomedizin in Deutschland e.V. (VBIO), which represents bioscientists in Germany.

Jena Declaration

→ main article: Jena Declaration
At its annual meeting in September 2019, the DZG approved and released the Jena Declaration, which stated that "the concept of race is the result of racism, not its prerequisite." The Declaration was authored by Martin S. Fischer, Uwe Hoßfeld, Johannes Krause, and Stefan Richter.
The statement characterised the division of humanity into races as social and political stereotyping, resulting from and supported by an anthropological construct on the basis of arbitrarily chosen features like hair and skin colour. This construct has served to justify open and hidden racism and its consequences.