The award is conferred for outstanding diploma, master’s or doctoral theses submitted to a German university or institution of higher education. The award-winning thesis should preferably be characterized by methodological innovation in the field of microscopy. Müller received the award for his dissertation “Ultrastructural Analysis of Insulin Secretory Granule Ageing“, which he wrote at the Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden of Helmholtz Zentrum München at Dresden University Hospital – a DZD partner – and the Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus of TU Dresden.