First prize in DSM Science & Technology Awards (South) 2008 goes to German researcher Andreas Walther

German researcher Andreas Walther has won the first prize in the DSM Science & Technology Awards (South) 2008. An international judging committee, chaired by Dr Manfred Eggersdorfer, R&D Director at DSM Nutritional Products, selected Andreas Walther, who will obtain his doctorate from the University of Bayreuth (Germany), for his PhD research in the field of polymeric materials. Andreas Walther has succeeded in developing new classes of polymeric materials with unusual properties based on so-called Janus particles. These particles, named after the two-faced Roman god, are characterized by surfaces with distinctive properties, which enable specific and different interactions with other materials. They form an ideal toolbox for nanotechnology applications and materials science, paving the way for the construction of novel types of advanced biochemical sensors, drug-delivery vehicles, multi-component storage and release devices, or highly surface-active particles. Looking to the future, a multitude of current problems in biomedicine, materials science and other disciplines can efficiently be tackled by the materials enabled by Andreas Walther’s research. Andreas Walther was presented with an award trophy and a certificate by Mr Stephan Tanda, member of DSM’s Managing Board on Tuesday, June 17. As the winner of the first prize he will also receive a cash prize of EUR 7,500.

The winner of the second prize, Irene Maier of the University of Vienna (Austria), will receive a cash prize of EUR 5,000 for her PhD research on the development of analytic methods for allergens in food matrices. The winner of the third prize, Christoph Dumelin of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland), will receive a cash prize of EUR 2,500 for his PhD research on the development of protein binders from DNA coded libraries. The other nine finalists will each receive a cash prize of EUR 1,250.

In its report about the winner of the first prize, the judging committee said it was impressed by the outstanding quality and high impact of the research carried out by Andreas Walther: ‘He has not only synthesized the basic building blocks but also assembled these into various 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional structures, which he then characterized physically and functionally. In this way he has made a major breakthrough in a highly competitive field, based on an innovative new concept.’ According to the judging committee, the outcome of the research may prove useful in a variety of applications, e.g. in the medical area or in the development of new photovoltaic devices.