Young Scientist Award
Young Scientist Award (YSA) of the ZWU
Since 2009, the Center for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU) has annually announced the Young Scientist Award (YSA) at the beginning of the winter semester for outstanding theses by students and young scientists that are closely related to the research topics of the ZWU.
Call for Applications 2026 closedYoung Scientist Award 2026
The application phase for the 2026 Young Scientist Award (YSA) recognizing outstanding theses by students and early-career researchers is now closed. The next call for the 2027 Young Scientist Award will open in the winter semester 2026/2027.
June 2025Award winners of the year 2025
We are delighted to announce this year's winners of the Young Scientist Award 2025.
The 5 award winners were officially honoured at the UDE summer party on 26 June 2025.
The selection committee around
Dr. Wiebke Warner
(Hydrogeochemistry, RUB)
Prof. Dr. Christoph Donner
(Chairman of the Board, Ruhrverband)
Dr. Thomas-Benjamin Seiler
(Managing Director, Hygiene Institute of the Ruhr Area)
Prof. Dr. Burkhard Teichgräber
(Head of the Fundamentals and Development Division, EG/LV))
and the ZWU Executive Board presented three awards for outstanding Master's theses and three prizes for outstanding dissertations.
Congratulations!!!
Master theses
1st place Isabell Erdmann
Degree programme Water Science
AG Aquatic Ecosystem Research, UDE
Title of the thesis:
"Development of a microbial index for groundwater quality with respect to nitrogen"
2nd place Erika Juliana Pérez Manosalva
Degree programme Ecotoxicology
AG Ecotoxicology, UDE
Title of the thesis:
"Impact of multiple anthropogenic stressors on leaf litter decomposition and associated fungal community"
3rd place Jana Rees
Degree programme Biodiversity
AG Aquatic Ecology, UDE
Title of the thesis:
"Untersuchung des Biomasse- und Primer-Biases in DNA-Metabarcoding vo terrestrischen Insektenproben"
Promotions
1st place Dr. Christian Schürings
AG Aquatic Ecology, UDE
Title of the thesis:
"Impacts of agricultural land use types on biodiversity and health of river ecosystems: A large-scale analysis"
2nd place Dr. Sebastian Prati
AG Aquatic Ecology, UDE
Title of the work:
"Effects of stream degradation and recovery on parasite communities: a multiple stressors approach"
2nd place Dr. Robert Marks
AG Instrumental Analytical Chemistry , UDE
Title of the work:
"Liquid chromatography with simultaneous isotope ratio and high-resolution mass spectrometry detection: A powerful new tool for process investigation"