The NOMIS Foundation is delighted to announce the recipients of the 2025 NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award — congratulations to Wolfgang Busch of the Salk Institute, Markus Rex of the Alfred Wegener Institute, and Sara Seager of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology!
In recognition of their outstanding contributions to the advancement of science and human progress through their groundbreaking, innovative and collaborative research, Wolfgang Busch, Markus Rex and Sara Seager have been named recipients of the 2025 NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award. Their discoveries have sparked insights into how plants adapt root growth and respond to stress; climate feedback mechanisms in the Arctic; and exoplanet detection and characterization.
2025 NOMIS Awardee Wolfgang Busch
Wolfgang Busch is the Hess Chair in Plant Science, professor and director of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, US. A leading plant biologist, Busch pioneered novel imaging and machine vision tools to analyze hundreds of thousands of roots, revealing how plants adapt root growth and respond to stress. He discovered how plants limit iron during bacterial attacks by linking iron deficiency signaling to immune responses and identified a gene that controls root depth. His insights offer new strategies to enhance plant resilience, nutrient uptake and disease resistance through targeted genetic and molecular approaches.
Through his NOMIS-supported research project, Mapping the Root Perceptome, Busch aims to map the chemical world that roots can perceive — their “perceptome.” By systematically testing how thousands of chemicals influence root growth and identifying the root structures and receptor kinases proteins involved, Busch seeks to uncover the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which roots sense and respond to external cues in the soil.
Learn more about Wolfgang Busch and his research
2025 NOMIS Awardee Markus Rex
Markus Rex is head of Atmospheric Physics at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), and full professor at the University of Potsdam in Germany. A trailblazing climate scientist, Rex’s research focuses on atmospheric chemistry, polar processes and the role of atmospheric feedback in the Earth’s climate system. He has led numerous large-scale international research initiatives, most notably the pioneering MOSAiC expedition — the largest Arctic research mission in history — which significantly advanced global understanding of climate feedback mechanisms in the central Arctic. Rex has made major contributions to our knowledge of stratospheric ozone depletion and has played a key role in scientific assessments informing international environmental policy.
Through his NOMIS-supported research project, Deepcloud, Rex will address the longstanding challenge of quantifying how clouds respond to global warming. Deepcloud will use machine learning to model cloud processes. Leveraging newly available observational data from an Arctic expedition and a satellite mission, Rex is exploring how Arctic clouds respond to global warming and how increases in small particles in the atmosphere influence cloud properties.
Learn more about Markus Rex and his research
2025 NOMIS Awardee Sara Seager
Sara Seager is professor of physics, professor of planetary science, professor of aeronautics and astronautics, and the Class of 1941 Professor Chair at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, US. A world-renowned astrophysicist, Seager is a pioneer in exoplanet research — planets orbiting stars other than the sun. Her groundbreaking work on exoplanet detection and characterization, including the development of transit transmission spectroscopy to study exoplanet atmospheres, has transformed the field and laid the foundation for today’s search for signs of life on exoplanets. She has directed the design and implementation of space missions, including novel mission concepts for future exploration.
Seager’s NOMIS-supported research project, From Lab to Cosmos, poses the question, could life exist in Venus’ acidic clouds, on airless planets or in other extreme environments once considered uninhabitable? The project aims to expand the definition of habitability by conducting laboratory experiments that study biomolecules’ chemistry in sulfuric acid for Venus missions; explore biomolecules in ionic liquids as exotic solvents; and predict signs of life based on planets that could sustain life in extreme environments. Through this research, Seager seeks to redefine our understanding of life’s beginnings and its potential distribution across the cosmos.
Learn more about Sara Seager and her research
NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award
Established in 2016, the NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award (NOMIS Award) honors pioneering scientists and scholars whose innovative, groundbreaking research has significantly impacted their respective fields and inspired the world. They are bridging the boundaries of disciplines with their bold ideas, unique approaches and interdisciplinary collaboration. The NOMIS Award enables these exceptional researchers to continue exploring unconventional and uncharted research paths, opening up new fields and fostering collaboration.
NOMIS Insight lectures
In conjunction with the NOMIS Award ceremony, which will be held in Zurich, Switzerland, in October this year, the new awardees will present their groundbreaking work to the broader scientific community at the NOMIS Insight lectures, illuminating the pioneering foundational research that is “creating a spark” in the world of science.
NOMIS Foundation
NOMIS’ vision is to “create a spark” in the world of science by enabling and supporting pioneering research in the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities that benefits humankind and our planet. Our mission is to support and enable insight-driven science across all disciplines, focusing on researchers who put forth bold new ideas, exhibit a pioneering spirit and seek to inspire the world around them.
Feature image: From “Creating the NOMIS Award Trophy: From Vision to Reality” by Vollformat
