The Robert Koch Award is one of the most prestigious scientific awards in Germany. The prize money was increased in 2017 from 100,000 euros to 120,000 euros. It is awarded annually, under the patronage of the German Minister of Health, for outstanding and internationally recognized scientific achievements.
| 2018 | Jeffrey V. Ravetch (USA) |
| 2017 | Rafi Ahmed (USA), Antonio Lanzavecchia (Switzerland) |
| 2016 | Alberto Mantovani (Italy), Michel C. Nussenzweig (USA) |
| 2015 | Ralf Bartenschlager (Heidelberg), Charles M. Rice (USA) |
| 2014 | Jean-Laurent Casanova (USA), Alain Fischer (France) |
| 2013 | Jeffrey I. Gordon (USA) |
| 2012 | Tasuku Honjo (Japan) |
| 2011 | Jorge Galán (USA) |
| 2010 | Max Dale Cooper (USA) |
| 2009 | Carl F. Nathan (USA) |
| 2008 | Hans Robert Schöler (Münster), Irving Weissmann (USA), Shinya Yamanaka (Japan) |
| 2007 | Pascale Cossart (France) |
| 2006 | Peter Palese (USA), Yoshihiro Kawaoka (Japan) |
| 2005 | Brain J. Druker (USA) |
| 2004 | Shizuo Akira (Japan), Bruce A. Beutler (USA), Jules A. Hoffmann (France) |
| 2003 | Adriano Aguzzi (Switzerland) |
| 2002 | Rudolf Jaenisch (USA) |
| 2001 | Axel Ullrich (Martinsried) |
| 2000 | Stanley Falkow (USA) |
| 1999 | Ralph M. Steinman (USA) |
| 1998 | Yuan Chang (USA), Patrick S. Moore (USA) |
| 1997 | Philippe J. Sansonetti (France) |
| 1996 | Fritz Melchers (Switzerland), Klaus Rajewsky (Köln) |
| 1995 | Shigekazu Nagata (Japan), Peter H. Krammer (Heidelberg) |
| 1994 | Volkmar Braun (Tübingen), Manuel Elkin Patarroyo Murillo (Colombia) |
| 1993 | Hans-Georg Rammensee (Heidelberg), Daniel W. Bradley (USA), Michael Houghton (USA) |
| 1992 | Kary B. Mullis (USA) |
| 1991 | Walter Fiers (Belgium), Tadatsugu Taniguchi (Japan) |
| 1990 | Lloyd J. Old (USA) |
| 1989 | Irun R. Cohen (Israel), Alex J. van der Eb (Netherlands) |
| 1988 | Donald Metcalf (Australia) |
| 1987 | Mario Rizzetto (Italy), Rudolf Rott (Gießen), John J. Skehel (UK) |
| 1986 | Susumu Tonegawa (USA) |
| 1985 | Stefania Jablonska (Poland), Gérard Ch. J. Orth (France) |
| 1984 | Walter Doerfler (Köln), Stuart F. Schlossman (USA) |
| 1983 | Werner Goebel (Würzburg), Robert A. Weinberg (USA) |
| 1982 | Raymond L. Erikson (USA), Franz Oesch (Mainz) |
| 1981 | Robert M. Chanock (USA), Lars A. Hanson (Sweden) |
| 1980 | César Milstein (UK), Lewis W. Wannamaker (USA) |
| 1979 | Ruth Arnon (Israel), Peter Starlinger (Köln) |
| 1978 | Albrecht K. Kleinschmidt (Ulm), Heinz L. Sänger (Gießen) |
| 1977 | Jean Dausset (France), Jan J. van Rood (Netherlands) |
| 1976 | Richard A. Finkelstein (USA), Mark H. Richmond (UK) |
| 1975 | Harald zur Hausen (Erlangen), Heinz-G. Wittmann (Berlin) |
| 1974 | Norbert Hilschmann (Göttingen) |
| 1973 | Jean Lindenmann (Switzerland), Hans G. Schwick (Marburg) |
| 1972 | Hubertus Berrens (Netherlands), Alain L. de Weck (Switzerland) |
| 1971 | Gertrude und Werner Henle (USA) |
| 1970 | William M. Hutchinson (UK), Jorgen C. Siim (Denmark) |
| 1970 | Pirjo Helena Mäkelä (Finland) |
| 1968 | Heinz Stolp (Berlin) |
| 1968 | Arthur Brockhaus (Düsseldorf), Hans-Werner Schlipköter (Düsseldorf) |
| 1966 | Karl Bartmann (Berlin) |
| 1965 | Gertrud Meissner (Borstel) |
| 1963 | Tomizo Yoshida (Japan) |
| 1962 | John Franklin Enders (USA), Albert Bruce Sabin (USA), Jonas Edward Salk (USA) |
| 1960 | Hugo Braun (München), René Jules Dubos (USA), Toshiaki Ebina (Japan), Ludwig Heilmeyer (Freiburg), Franz Redeker (Mehlem), Josef Tomczik (Switzerland) |
