Philipp Strack (Yale University), a former doctoral student of Paul Heidhues, has been awarded the Bates Clark Medal . Strack began his academic training at the University of Bonn in 2004, where he completed his doctorate under Paul Heidhues ( at that time professor at the University of Bonn) in 2013 - a bond that still exists today. Since then, Strack and Heidhues have published several articles together in high-ranking specialist journals, which were also mentioned in the laudatory speech by the award committee. The focus of their collaboration lies in the area of discrimination and the combination of psychological elements and economic theories. Together with Botond Kőszegi (University of Bonn), they have developed a theory of discrimination perception based on people's widespread overestimation of their own abilities. According to this theory, if people who tend to overestimate themselves do not experience the recognition they expect, they will explain the lack of recognition through discrimination, even if they belong to a socio-economic group that in reality experiences no or even positive discrimination.

The Bates-Clark Medal is considered the small Nobel Prize in economics and has been awarded by the Academic Economic Association (AEA ) since 1947 to economists under the age of 40 who work at an American university. 14 of the 46 winners to date have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize. Strack is the first German winner ever.