text: Kai Simons honours and awards include:
  * 1975 Federation of European Biochemical Society Anniversary Prize
  * 1984 Honorary Professor, University of Heidelberg, Germany
  * 1989 Lamport Visiting Professor (Columbia, New York)
  * 1990 Histochemical Society Lecture
  * 1990 Keith R. Porter Lecture, American Society of Cell Biology
  * 1991 Anders Jahre Prize for Medical Research
  * 1991 NICHD Lectureship in Cell Biology
  * 1993 Carl Zeiss Lecture, German Society for Cell Biology
  * 1994 Harvey Society Lecture
  * 1996 Dunham Lecturer, Harvard University
  * 1996 Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  * 1997 Academia Europaea
  * 1997 Adam Neville Lecture, University of Dundee, UK
  * 1997 Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA
  * 1997 Runeberg Prize, Finland
  * 1998 Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
  * 1998 Choh Hao Li Memorial Lecture in Biochemical Endocrinology, University of California, Berkeley
  * 1999 Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Oulu, Finland
  * 2000 President of the European Life Scientist Organisation
  * 2001 Honorary member of the German Society for Cell Biology
  * 2001 ISI Highly cited researcher
  * 2001 Schleiden Medal of Academy Leopoldina
  * 2002 Hoppe-Seyler Lecture, Society of Biology and Molecular Biology Germany
  * 2003 Albert Wander Prize, University of Bern, Switzerland
  * 2003 Matti Äyräpää Prize, Finland
  * 2003 Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Leuven, Belgium
  * 2003 Honorary Professor at TU Dresden
  * 2003 Prix Mondial Nessim Habif, University of Geneva, Switzerland
  * 2004 Virchow Lecture and Medal, University of Würzburg, Germany
  * 2005 Foundation Day Lecture, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India
  * 2005 van Deenen Medal, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  * 2006 A.I. Virtanen Medal, Finland
  * 2006 Honorary member of the Societas Biochemica, Biophysica et Microbiologica Fenniae
  * 2007 Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony
  * 2010 Doctor honoris causa, University of Kuopio, Finland
  * 2011 Doctor honoris causa, University of Geneva, Switzerland
  * 2016 Robert Koch Medal
  Kai Simons was and is also a member of numerous societies, committees and organisations, as well as an editor for several scientific journals.