Awards for outstanding sustainability research

The University of Bayreuth was one of the first Bavarian universities to adopt a comprehensive sustainability strategy. It also includes the annual awarding of the Sustainability Prize for final theses by University President Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible. The three award-winning Bachelor's and Master's theses stood out from a field of 19 applications covering a wide range of topics: from microplastics to nutrition, sport and communication to renewable energies.

Her thesis contributed to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the atmospheric deposition processes of airborne microplastics. She focused in particular on the urban area of Bayreuth and was able to detect microplastics in all atmospheric samples. According to the jury, this is an important contribution to sustainable development, particularly in the areas of health, climate protection and sustainable cities and communities.

There were two second places this year, won by Lucas Ludwig and Philipp Moos.

As climate change progresses, there is a need to transform the energy sector as quickly as possible. Renewable energies are a key factor in this. Philipp Moos tackled a very topical subject with the effects of feeding renewable energies into the grid on the wholesale electricity price and the calculation of the merit order effect. According to the jury, his thesis makes an important contribution to sustainable development, particularly in the area of affordable and clean energy.

Cavity resonators are considered high-precision measuring instruments for material characterization and can be used for the detection of microplastics. However, the absorption of microwaves in water makes the measurements considerably more difficult. This is where Lucas Ludwig's thesis comes in: he was able to show that active in-phase feedback makes it possible to restore the resonance sharpness of cavity resonators with high attenuation, which contributes to microplastic detection. For the jury, the thesis thus makes an important contribution to sustainable development, particularly in the areas of climate protection and clean water.

The presentation of the Sustainability Award was embedded in a Sustainability Slam, in which three researchers gave an insight into their research areas at the interface to sustainability. The presentations were given by Laura Kempf, doctoral student at the Chair of Information Systems and Value-Oriented Process Management at the University of Bayreuth, Pascal Fechner, external doctoral student at the University of Bayreuth and co-founder of the start-up inContAlert, and Stephan Kuntze, engineering student at the University of Bayreuth. During their presentations, the pitchers gave exciting insights into the topics of twin transformation, support for incontinence patients in measuring bladder filling levels using a wearable and the development of new and sustainable materials for turbine technology.

The event was hosted by Vice President for Digitalization, Innovation and Sustainability Prof. Dr. Susanne Tittlbach together with Lena Roth and Anna Krombacher from GreenCampus.

The Sustainability Award was donated by the Universitätsverein Bayreuth e.V.. The award winners were selected by a jury made up of members of the university management, GreenCampus, the student parliament and the university association. The award ceremony took place as part of the Sustainability Week, which focuses on the active commitment of students on the green campus of the University of Bayreuth through workshops, panel discussions and guided tours.