These awards grew out of early attempts by German physician Robert Koch to generate funding to support his research into the cause and cure for tuberculosis.
Koch discovered the bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) responsible for the dreaded disease and rapidly acquired international support, including 500,000 gold marks from the Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
The prestige of this award has grown over the past decades so that it is now widely regarded as the leading international scientific prize in microbiology.
As has been described by a jury member for the prize, the committee often asks, "What would Robert Koch work on today?” to decide on research that should be granted recognition.
Other notable awardees include Albert Sabin, Jonas Salk and John Enders for their pioneering work on the development of polio vaccines.