Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin have a special relationship with Cologne. So she is all the more delighted to have her name entered in the city’s golden book.
The founders of the company Biontech, Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin, have been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cologne. On Friday, the researcher couple also signed the city’s Golden Book, which has a special meaning for them.
“Of course we see this as an honor for our scientific work,” said Sahin at the ceremony. “But we also see it as an opportunity to remember this wonderful time we had in Cologne.” Cologne is the city of its “youthful character”.
Among other things, Sahin recalled how he played football in the Rhine meadows as a child. Every day he met with friends in the north of Cologne. “Football taught me that if you want to win something, you can only win as a team,” he said. And that you have to keep your knees.
The CEO of the Mainz-based company Biontech had moved to Cologne with his family at the age of four, where he graduated from high school and studied medicine. Biontech was among the first to introduce a vaccine against the coronavirus.
Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker (independent) emphasized that in the city’s Golden Book the two researchers are now “in the best of company” – for example alongside former US President John F. Kennedy, astronaut Alexander Gerst and Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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