Awarding of the 2026 Sustainability Prizes at the University of Bayreuth

The award ceremony, followed by a panel discussion, was embedded within three Sustainability Days featuring lectures, workshops and guided tours, intended to provide insights into the University’s research activities, solution strategies, and the lived commitment of students across all facets of sustainability. The Sustainability Prizes were sponsored by Sparkasse Bayreuth. The prize winners were selected by two juries composed of members of the University Executive Board, GreenCampus, the Student Parliament, the Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Sparkasse Bayreuth. The award of the dissertation prize was decided by the University Executive Board.

First place in the University of Bayreuth Sustainability Prize for final theses was awarded to Leonhard Schatt for his Master’s thesis entitled “Autonomous Solubility Mapping via Gaussian Process Regression: Exploring Sustainable Solvent Compositions for Organic Photovoltaics.” The thesis was supervised by Professor Dr. Eva Herzig and Dr. Fabian Eller (Herzig Group – Dynamics and Structure Formation).

Second place went to Stefan Eller for his Master’s thesis entitled “Comparison of FTIR Spectroscopy with AI-Based Impedance Spectroscopy for the Identification of Microparticles in Flow Systems.” The thesis was supervised by Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Fischerauer and Dr.-Ing. Luca Bifano (Chair of Measurement and Control Engineering).

Third place was awarded to Arbnora Haljiti for her Master’s thesis entitled “Catalytic Behaviour of Polyaniline Doped with Transition Metal Ions for Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Conditions.” The thesis was supervised by Professor Dr.-Ing. Christina Roth and Dr. Bruna Ferreira Gomes Lobo (Chair of Materials Processing Engineering).

For the first time this year, the Sustainability Dissertation Prize was awarded to Dr Tom Rüther for his outstanding dissertation entitled “Electrochemical Characterisation and System-Level Diagnostics of Lithium-Ion Batteries.” The dissertation was supervised by Professor Dr.-Ing. Michael Danzer.

The Sustainability Transfer Prize was awarded to Pascal Fechner on behalf of the Bayreuth AI Association for the project “From Campus to Kitchen: AI Forecasting to Reduce Food Waste in the Bayreuth University Canteen.” The transfer prize is endowed with €5,000 and is intended to support the practical implementation of a sustainability project. The Bayreuth AI Association will use the funding to further develop and expand its AI forecasting prototype.

The award ceremony was rounded off by the panel discussion “Sustainable. Connected. Bayreuth,” moderated by Priv.-Doz. Dr Astrid Utler. Representatives from a wide range of sectors essential to the implementation of sustainability initiatives in the region took part. Stefan Schuh (Second Mayor of the City of Bayreuth), Markus Spona (CFO of TMT GmbH), Leonhard Schatt (award-winning graduate), Professor Dr. Susanne Tittlbach (Vice President for Digitalisation, Innovation and Sustainability), Professor Dr. Christoph Helbig (Chair of Ecological Resource Technology), and Markus Rützel (Bayreuth Municipal Utilities) discussed topics such as sustainable mobility in Bayreuth and the concrete challenges of the energy transition. The discussion concluded with an appeal to make use of Bayreuth’s short distances and to engage in dialogue across institutions. This was put into practice later that evening during an informal get‑together.