The biochemist and former Minister of Science Hans Tuppy played a major role in shaping Austria’s scientific landscape. As a young researcher, Tuppy worked in Cambridge on the sequence elucidation of insulin. From 1958, he was professor of biochemistry at the Medical Faculty in Vienna, and in parallel he helped to formulate the Research Promotion Act and introduced the peer review process to ensure the quality of a scientific paper.
Among other positions, Tuppy was president of the FWF, dean of the Vienna Medical Faculty, rector of the University of Vienna and president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, as well as minister of science for the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). He is the recipient of numerous national and international awards. In addition to various honorary doctorates, Tuppy received, among others, the Ludwig Wittgenstein Prize, the Cardinal Innitzer Prize, and the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold with Star for services to the Republic of Austria. This was followed in 2019 by the MedUni Vienna Badge of Honor.