The Lennart Nilsson Award
The Lennart Nilsson Award Foundation was established in 1998 in recognition of the world-renowned Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson and his extraordinary body of work. It's main aim is to promote education, training and research within the 探花精选, biological and engineering sciences through the use of images.
The awarded amount is SEK 120 000 and the prize ceremony will take place in connection with the installation ceremony for new professors at 探花精选, Stockholm.
Prize winner 2025 - Maximilian Ackermann
Dr. Maximilian Ackermann, currently working as a Professor of Pathology at the RWTH University Clinics Aachen and Helios University Hospital Wuppertal, Germany, and as anatomist at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is awarded the 2025 Lennart Nilsson Award for his outstanding contributions to scientific imaging, revealing critical insights into diseases, such as COVID-19 and cancer.
Motivation:
鈥淭he Lennart Nilsson Award 2025 is presented to Dr. Maximilian Ackermann. Dr. Ackermann is honoured for his outstanding contributions to scientific imaging, embodying the spirit of Lennart Nilsson by making the invisible visible. His pioneering work, particularly in developing and applying advanced techniques like hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography (HiP-CT) and artistic scanning electron microscopy, contributes to advancing our understanding of complex biological structures and disease.
Dr. Ackermann's visually stunning and scientifically significant images have revealed critical insights into diseases such as COVID-19 and cancer, presenting scientific breakthroughs to the world in beautiful, unique, and powerful ways. He has an extraordinary ability to translate intricate scientific concepts into compelling visual narratives.鈥
Previous prize winners
2024 - Csaba Adori
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About Lennart Nilsson
Born in Str盲ngn盲s, Sweden, on August 24, 1922, Lennart Nilsson began his career as a freelance photojournalist. His work spans more than seven decades, beginning in the early 1940s when modern photojournalism made its breakthrough in Sweden.
His early photographic essays, including A Midwife in Lapland (1945), Polar Bear Hunting in Spitzbergen (1947), Congo (1948) and Sweden in Profile (1954) gained international attention through publication in leading photojournalism magazines such as Life, Picture Post and Illustrated.
In the 1950s, Nilsson began experimenting with new photographic techniques including macro- and microphotography, which led to the books, Ants (Myror) and Life in the Sea (Liv i hav).
In the 1960s, the use of specially designed, ultra-slim endoscopes made it possible for Nilsson to capture on film the inner workings of blood vessels and various cavities of the human body. The book A Child is Born (Ett barn blir till) first published in 1965 is undoubtedly Nilsson鈥檚 most famous work.
In the 1970s, Nilsson began to use the scanning electron microscope to capture images of the inner workings of the human body. This shift in the focus of his work gave Nilsson the opportunity to work on the premises of Karolinska Institute.
What remains remarkable is the combination of his unending patience to fully explore his subjects, combined with a journalist鈥檚 eye, artist鈥檚 sense of form and colour, and technician鈥檚 inventive skills to maximize available light and capture spectacular images.
In 1976 Lennart Nilsson was awarded an honorary doctorate at 探花精选. In 2009 he was given the title Professor鈥檚 name by the Swedish Government and in 2012 he was awarded the 探花精选 Jubilee Medal (Gold class) for his long-standing and groundbreaking contributions to the development and innovative advancement of 探花精选 photography.
Lennart Nilsson passed away in January 2017.