The 2024 ISCB Overton Prize Award—Dr Martin Steinegger

While Dr Steinegger is well entrenched in the field of computational biology these days, his path to this field wasn't planned.In fact, when asked how he had become aware of computational biology, he said it was completely by accident!Steinegger recalls his interest in computers being a foundational aspect of his academic journey.Specifically, it started when, as a child, he received a computer with a digital operating system and was very focused on getting games running-as any young child would be!This early experience helped fuel the spark of problem-solving.Despite his interest in computers and technology, however, school was a different and more complicated story, and the path to university was anything but direct.Growing up in a small Bavarian town and being dyslexic, Steinegger was placed in an educational track that didn't give him the option to pursue a university education.Instead, he was put on a path for job placement and was told that with his education, his options for the future were going to be limited.Instead of accepting limited options, Steinegger left the restrictive German education system behind to enroll in a technical school in Austria and later turned mandatory military service into civil service which allowed him to transfer to a professional school for business informatics.From there, he ended up working as an IT consultant, and though he enjoyed this position, it wasn't the challenge he anticipated.Leveraging his professional schools' education, and encouraged to do so by a former partner, Steinegger pursued a university education to find the challenge he was looking for.