Jon A. Wellner, University of Washington, USA, has been elected the recipient of a Humboldt Research Award. He was nominated for this prestigious award by Prof. Tilmann Gneiting, University of Heidelberg, Germany. The Humboldt Research Award is conferred in recognition of lifetime achievements in research. In addition, the awardee is invited to carry out research projects of his own choice in cooperation with specialist colleagues in Germany, thereby promoting further international scientific cooperation. See http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/programmes-by-target-group.html for further information.