The Friedrich Wilhelm Award is conferred by the advisory board of Friedrich Wilhelm Foundation. This prize is awarded for outstanding scientific archievements of students and scientists at RWTH Aachen.
It goes back to the Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich-Wilhelm, also known as the 99-day Emperor Friedrich III. In 1858, when he re-entered Prussian soil at the border train station in Herbesthal after his marriage to Princess Victoria in London, Aachen citizens presented him with a donation of 5.000 Talers intended for the foundation of a polytechnic school. The money later formed the basis for the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Foundation, which has supported the science and the students of the Aachen University for decades.