Jessica Rosolowski, expert for animal-free science at the German Animal Welfare Association, comments on the reformed Animal Welfare Research Prize, which the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) is awarding today in two categories:
‘We welcome the reform of the animal welfare research prize. Animal-free approaches must be given greater financial and structural support so that all animal experiments can be phased out in the long term. The tools with which we can adapt research and science to our ethical standards as a society are already available in great variety and offer immense potential for development. With their research and educational work, this year's award winners have provided important findings and resources to replace animal testing. We warmly congratulate Prof. Dr. Hans Clevers from the Hubrecht Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science and the Norwegian organisation Norecopa and look forward to the future developments of their methods and approaches. The fact that international entries were honoured in both award categories shows how internationally networked science is today. Cooperation and communication are essential for innovation and progress - both between different geographies and disciplines.’
Background information:
The Animal Welfare Research Award is intended to honour pioneering work in the research and development of alternative and replacement methods to animal testing. It has been awarded since 1980 - initially by the Federal Ministry of Health and since 2021 by the BMEL. The prize was recently redesigned to provide a stronger incentive and provide more financial support for the work of the award winners. This year, it will therefore be awarded for the first time in various prize categories and with increased prize money totalling 120,000 euros. Previously, the prize money totalled just 25,000 euros.
