3 November 2025
Dr Casey Paquola has been honoured with the Early Excellence in Science Award by the Bayer Foundation. The neuroscientist received the award in the category of Biology for her research on simulating human brain maturation - work that could help to detect abnormalities in brain development at an earlier stage. Dr Paquola conducts her research in the field of computational neuroscience at Forschungszentrum Jülich and is one of four young scientists to receive the award, each of which carries a prize of €10,000. The award ceremony will take place in Leverkusen in February 2026.
Award for early-career researchers
The Early Excellence in Science Award has been presented annually since 2009 in the categories of Biology, Chemistry, Medicine and Data Science. An independent jury of the Bayer Foundation recognises young researchers who are carrying out pioneering work in their respective fields - 47 scientists have received the award to date.
What Casey Paquola is researching
Even as a teenager, Casey Paquola was fascinated by what happens in the brain when we dream or let our imagination run free. This early curiosity has stayed with her ever since. At Forschungszentrum Jülich, she has explored, among other things, the default mode network (DMN) - a network of brain regions that is particularly active during such mental states.
