Awarding of the 13th Friedrich Robert Helmert Prize

The 2025/2026 Friedrich-Robert-Helmert Prize has been awarded to Nadja Veigel.

Dr Nadja Veigel, who successfully completed her PhD in Section 4.4 ‘Hydrology’ in June 2025, has been awarded the Friedrich-Robert-Helmert Prize for the best PhD thesis at the GFZ in the 2025/2026 academic year. The prize is awarded annually by the GFZ Friends, the association of friends and supporters of the GFZ, and comes with a cash prize of 1,000 euros.

Dr Veigel’s work is characterised by an innovative approach to strengthening flood resilience at the household level. Using modern machine learning methods, she gained meaningful insights into effective strategies for adapting to flood risks. Among other things, she developed a novel approach to predicting insurance take-up and analysed discussions on social media during flood events.

Dr Veigel completed her PhD with the highest distinction, ‘summa cum laude’. Her findings have been published in four articles in high-impact international journals. She also developed an automated modelling method that estimates the impacts of flood events in near real time, making it of immense practical relevance for disaster relief.

The work is particularly impressive for its originality, interdisciplinary approach and practical relevance, leading the jury members to agree that Nadja Veigel is a worthy winner of the Helmert Prize. Six nominations were received this year. The prize was awarded on 7 July 2026 at the GFZ summer party.

Congratulations to Nadja Veigel!