Swiss researcher Bernd Bodenmiller today won the first prize in the DSM Science & Technology Awards (South) 2007. An international judging committee, chaired by Dr Manfred Eggersdorfer, R&D Director at DSM Nutritional Products, selected Bernd Bodenmiller, who will obtain his doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich in November 2007 for his PhD thesis entitled ‘Quantitative Analysis of Protein Phosphorylation on a Proteome-Wide Scale: Technology Development, Validation and Applications’. Bernd Bodenmiller has succeeded in developing and validating a novel technology in proteomics research to enrich, identify and quantify phosphopeptides on a system-wide scale. So far this has been a tremendous challenge due to low abundance and high complexity of phosphoproteins. He has demonstrated the power of this technology by successful applications in two relevant biological models. His research has already resulted in several publications in high-ranking journals.

Bernd Bodenmiller was presented with an award trophy and a certificate by Mr Stephan Tanda, member of DSM’s Managing Board. As the winner of the first prize he will also receive a cash prize of EUR 7,500.

The winner of the second prize, Eveline Trachsel, also of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich (Switzerland), will receive a cash prize of EUR 5,000. The winner of the third prize, Thomas Hofer of the Leopold-Franzens University Innsbruck (Austria), will receive a cash prize of EUR 2,500. The other nine finalists will each receive a cash prize of EUR 1,250.

The DSM Science & Technology Awards form part of the DSM Innovation Awards Program sponsored by the DSM Innovation Center. They are granted for outstanding PhD research by doctoral students from Switzerland, which is the home base of DSM Nutritional Products, and the neighboring regions of Austria, Northeastern France and Southern Germany.

The awards presentation event was held at Park Hotel Vitznau in Vitznau (Switzerland). Speaking on the occasion, Mr Tanda said: ‘Recognizing the work of outside specialists forms part of our Open Innovation approach. We hope that the introduction of the DSM Science & Technology Awards at our Swiss base and in the neighboring regions will be a great success. And that the awards will encourage PhD research scientists to undertake pioneering research to help shape tomorrow’s world.’

Report of the judging committee
In its report about the winner of the first prize, Bernd Bodenmiller, the judging committee said it was impressed by the successful integration of several techniques, such as chemical, biological, mass spectrometric and computational approaches, which is unique and world-leading: ‘The judging committee expects that the outcome of the research will prove useful in the elucidation of intracellular signalling pathways involved in the development of severe diseases and hence provide the basis for the development of appropriate prevention strategies. This may also open-up opportunities for new nutritional concepts to improve human health.’ The judging committee commended the high quality of the work of all the other finalists.

The winners of the first, second and third prizes
Bernd BODENMILLER conducted his research at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Rudolf Aebersold. Title of PhD thesis: ‘Quantitative Analysis of Protein Phosphorylation on a Proteome-Wide Scale: Technology Development, Validation and Applications’.

Eveline TRACHSEL conducted her research at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich (Switzerland), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dario Neri. Title of PhD thesis: ‘Antibody-based Vascular Targeting for the Treatment of Chronic Inflammation’.

Thomas HOFER conducted his research at the Department of Theoretical Chemistry, Leopold-Franzens University Innsbruck (Austria), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dr. Bernd M. Rode. Title of PhD thesis: ‘Development and Application of Advanced QM/MM MD Methodologies’.

Other winners
The other nine prize-winners are:

Elena ALEKSANDROVA, Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Stuttgart (Germany)
Matthias BECHTOLD, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich (Switzerland)
Wolfgang BICKER, Department of Analytical Food Chemistry, University of Vienna (Austria)
Christine CARAPITO, Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg (France)
François DEBAENE, Chemistry Department, ISIS, Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg (France)
Alexis KLEIN, INSERM U 866, IFR Santé-STIC, Medicine School, Burgundy University Dijon (France)
Peter LIPOWSKY, Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Stuttgart (Germany)
Ulrich PLUTOWSKI, Institute for Organic Chemistry, University of Karlsruhe (Germany)
Florian RUDROFF, Institute of Applied Synthetic Chemistry, Vienna University of Technology (Austria)

Two parallel awards schemes
DSM launched the Science & Technology Awards twenty-two years ago. Until 2006, the awards were open to doctoral students from the Netherlands, Belgium and the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen (DSM Science & Technology Awards – North). In view of the high reputation and popularity the awards had gained in academic circles, DSM this year introduced a parallel contest for PhD researchers from universities in Switzerland, Austria, Northeastern France and Southern Germany (DSM Science & Technology Awards – South).

Encouraging pioneering research
DSM performs a great deal of its R&D work in close collaboration with universities. Through its Science & Technology Awards DSM wants to encourage young research scientists to undertake creative, pioneering research. This is important because this kind of research often provides the basis for the development of new, knowledge-intensive industrial processes and innovative products.