Awards, prizes, contests
Best degree, outstanding research work, innovation competition - at the TUM School of Life Sciences, we promote the next generation of scientists and researchers. This includes honoring our young talents - the thought leaders for a sustainable and livable future. We thank our sponsors, partners, and participating foundations and associations for their commitment and cooperation in promoting young talent.
At the TUM School of Life Sciences New Year's reception 2025, Freising's Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher honored the winners of the best Master's theses in the 2023/2024 academic year.
The prizes were awarded to the best theses from each of the seven fields of study, all of which were awarded a grade of 1.0. The winners each receive €250 in prize money from the city of Freising.
The winners in the 2023/2024 academic year are:
- Anne Böhm (Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences): „The effect of different land-use intensities on carbon and nitrogen in the fractions of soil organic matter in the Biodiversity Exploratories“
- Julia Hagn (Biosciences): “Influence of phosphorylation on the localization, interactome and biological role of the AtTRAPPII complex“
- Jiahui Wang (Brewing, Food Technology and Bioprocess Engineering): “Experimental investigations and simulation studies to reduce the fermentation time to optimize Bacillus spore production: effects on the quantity and quality of the spores“
- Nooshin Mansouri (Nutritional Science): „Uncoupling Protein1 | From Mice to Humans: Comparative Analysis of the Potential Functional and Structural Differences”
- Alora Spring Kraus (Forest Science and Resource Management): “Rooting for Hyphae: Functional Persistence of AMF Water Transport to Plants during Soil Drying”
- Jonas Trotz (Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning): “Functional diversity of wild bees on restored grassland“
- Sebastian Minas (Food Chemistry): „Structure-analytical clarification of bitterness and astringency in protein isolates and protein concentrates from field beans (Vicia faba L.)“
At the annual reception to mark the New Year, Freising's Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher once again honored the winners of the best Master's theses in the 2022/2023 academic year.
The prizes were awarded to the best theses from each of the seven fields of study, all of which were awarded a grade of 1.0. The winners each receive €250 in prize money from the city of Freising.
The winners in the 2022/2023 academic year are Theresa Liegsalz (Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences), Matthias Lenz (Biosciences), Sophie Schwarzenbach (Brewing, Food Technology and Bioprocess Engineering), Madleen Biggel (Nutritional Science), Annalena Müller (Forest Science and Resource Management), Christian Zehner (Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning) and Robin Thür (Food Chemistry).
They were awarded for the following work:
- Theresa Liegsalz: Influences of growth and body composition on the body condition of calves in the perinatal period
- Matthias Lenz: Rational and Combinatorial Engineering of an E. coli Surface Display System for the Directed Evolution of Binding Proteins
- Sophie Schwarzenbach: Modellierung und Optimierung der Gradientenelution in Flüssig-Flüssigchromatographie
- Madleen Biggel: The role of cysteines in the interaction of DELE1 and HRI in response to mitochondrial stress
- Annalena Müller: Comparative Prospective Life Cycle Assessment of Hardwood Laminated Veneer Lumber Ceiling and Reinforced Concrete Ceiling
- Christian Zehner: Evaluation of protected areas - representativeness and effects on the long-term species richness of insects
- Robin Thür: Reaction products from epicatechin-linalool model reactions and their detection in foods
At the annual New Year's reception, Freising's Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher once again honored the winners of the best Master's theses for the academic year 2021/2022.
The prize was awarded to the best dissertations in each of the six fields of study, all of which received a grade of 1.0. The winners will each receive €250 in prize money from the city of Freising.
The winners for the 2021/2022 academic year are Teresa Hoiß (Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences), Teresa Mittermair (Biosciences), Lukas Hans (Brewing and Food Technology), Alexander Wolf (Nutritional Sciences and Food Chemistry), Markus Stimmelmayer (Forestry and Resource Management) and Vera Baron (Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning).
They were honored for the following work:
- Teresa Hoiß: Use of mammalian Mx genes to protect chicken fibroblasts from influenza A virus infections
- Teresa Mittermair: Phenotypic characterization of T-cell knock-out chickens
- Lukas Hans: Analysing the microstructure during freeze-drying and describing its influence on the drying
- Alexander Wolf: The cistrome of GR-mediated inhibition of de novo Ucp1 transcription in differentiated brown adipocytes
- Markus Stimmelmayer: Relationship between drought stress, vitality and wood quality in beech stands
- Vera Baron: The one-sidedness of attention in nature conservation: The example of the endangered freshwater pearl mussel
Looking back to the year 2021, Freising's Lord Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher honored the winners of the best master's theses in the academic year 2020/2021 in a video message.
The best theses from each of the six fields of study were honored, all of which received a grade of 1.0. The winners each received €250 in prize money from the city of Freising.
The winners in the 2020/21 academic year are Carolin Betz (Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences), Clara Igisch (Biosciences), Lukas Viebahn (Brewing and Food Technology), Ana Ivić (Nutritional Science and Food Chemistry) Leonie Wagner (Forestry Science and Resource Management) and Tiia Haberstok (Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning).
They were awarded for the following work:
- Carolin Betz: Climate Emergency: Nothing but a Symbol or Driver of More Ambitious Local
Climate Policies in Germany?
Tiia Haberstok: Soil structural development in a rehabilitated open-cast mine site in south-east Australia - Clara Igisch: Functional and molecular characterization of the CRIB domain-containing barley proteins HvRIC163 and HvRIC194.
- Ana Ivić: Characterization of natural compounds from Xeroderris stuhlmannii
- Lukas Viebahn: Comprehensive study of the supercritical CO2 extraction of volatiles from hop pellets: experiments and modelling
- Leonie Wagner:Tree species identification with high-resolution, multi-temporal multispectral data.
A knowledge-based and object-oriented approach
At the 2021 digital New Year's reception, Freising's mayor Tobias Eschenbacher honored the winners of the best master's theses in the 2019/2020 academic year in a video message.
The best theses from each of the six fields of study were honored, all of which received a grade of 1.0. The winners each receive €250 in prize money from the city of Freising.
The winners in the 2019/20 academic year are Clara Wagner (Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences), Marie-Louise Kowollik (Biosciences), Deborah Kracheletz (Brewing and Food Technology), Franziska Baumann (Nutritional Sciences), Benjamin Franklin Meyer (Forest Sciences and Resource Management) and Fabian Sauter (Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning).
They were awarded for the following work:
- Clara Wagner: The Role of Mindsets in Succession Processes in Agri- and Horticultural Family Businesses
- Deborah Kracheletz: Simulation of molecular diffusion in a single particle and a packed bed on the example of espresso extraction and chocolate conching – A comparison of different approaches
- Marie-Luise Kowollik: Characterization of a new species of the genus Ruminiclostridium isolated from a biogas digester.
- Franziska Baumann: Purification of human TIMP-4 protein and initial investigation of its non-canonical functions.
- Benjamin Franklin Meyer: Higher vulnerability of beech to drought: a multimethod dendroecological analysis.
- Fabian Sauter: Competition along productivity gradients – A case study with the rare arable plant Arnoseris minima (L.) Schweigg. & Körte
At the New Year's Reception 2020, Freisings Lord Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher once again awarded prizes for the best final theses of the students. Six master's theses, all of which received the dream grade of 1.0, were awarded prize money of 250 €. The winners in the academic year 2018/2019 are Samira Dietze (Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences), Kim Wagner (Biosciences), Lena Dworschak (Brewing and Food Technology), Josef Ranner (Nutritional Sciences), Kristina Witzgall (Forestry and Resource Management) and Markus Bauer (Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning).
The Max-Eyth Young Talent Award is announced and awarded annually by the Max-Eyth-Gesellschaft Agrartechnik (VDI-MEG). The prize is awarded to one bachelor's, master's or diploma thesis with an agricultural engineering focus (engineering training) or process engineering content (agricultural training).
Georg Schmalhofer was awarded the Max Eyth Young Talent Award 2024 for his outstanding master's thesis.
| Year | Award winner | Thesis topic and supervision |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Georg Schmalhofer | 3D Orientation Estimation for Articulated Vehicles Using Optical Sensing / TUM LS Life Science Engineering, Agrarmechatronik, Prof. Dr. T. Oksanen |
Biologist Christina Dollinger won 3rd prize, worth 500 euros, with her English-language master's thesis in Biology. In 2024, the Young Academics Award focused on “Responding to environmental change and maintaining a high quality of life in the Alps”. Dollinger does research in the Berchtesgaden National Park and examined various strategies for restoring near-natural mountain forests in her master's thesis. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke presented the award to Dollinger at an event in Slovenia.
The Young Academics Award of the Alpine Convention recognizes outstanding master's theses on alpine topics. The prize is awarded every two years and is dedicated to a special focus each time.
More about the award winner's work: Young Academics Award from the Alpine Convention for TUM master's thesis
More information about the Young Academics Award
The iGEM Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology, education and competition, and the development of open community and collaboration.
The main program of iGEM is the iGEM Competition, an annual worldwide event in the field of synthetic biology, which is aimed at undergraduate students as well as high school and university graduates. The iGEM competition gives students the opportunity to push the boundaries of synthetic biology by addressing everyday problems facing the world. Multidisciplinary teams work together to design, build, test and measure a self-designed system using interchangeable biological parts and standard molecular biology techniques.
In 2016, a joint team from LMU Munich and TU Munich, supported by Prof. Dr. Arne Skerra from the Chair of Biological Chemistry, won the gold medal in several categories. Read more
The annual graduation ceremony presents numerous prizes and awards for brewing, food technology, and bioprocess technology graduates, particularly for the best theses. Special commitment to student interests and special achievements in teaching are also honored:
Award 2023
Award 2022
Award 2021
What is the Innovation goes Life Science Competition (IGL)?
The IGL program promotes entrepreneurial thinking and the development of innovative ideas in the fields of food, agricultural technology, biotechnology and bioengineering. It is aimed in particular at students from the third semester onwards as well as external talent with an interest in these specialist areas.
Students develop new innovative business models, products and services with the help of experts from industry and research, focusing on both technological and entrepreneurial aspects while leveraging artificial intelligence for business development, market insights, and prototype building, and taking into account current market situations.
Innovation goes Life Sciences Competition (IGL) - #10
The Innovation Contest 2025 started in January and ended with the final pitch at the end of April.
| Category | Winning team |
|---|---|
| Food | Fruity Oats (Porridge in a bottle) |
| Beverages | HAL (Development of sustainable drink products made from grains and food byproducts) |
| Tech | Moor (A vehicle system that can operate on wet and unstable land as swamps or moors) |
Dr. Verena Jost has been awarded the Peter Dornier Prize 2020 for her doctorate on the topic “Effect of additives on the mechanical and permeation properties of biopolymer films from alginate and PHBV” at the Chair of Food Packaging Technology under Prof. Dr. H.-C. Langowski.
The use of biodegradable polymers in the packaging sector has been under discussion for decades. Now that the contamination of soil and water with larger and smaller plastic parts and particles has taken on major proportions, this group of materials is seen as an important element in solving these problems.
Against this background, Ms. Jost set herself the goal of identifying biodegradable polymers based on renewable raw materials that can either be thermoplastically processed into films or applied as coatings in solvent-based casting processes and, when formed, have good mechanical properties and low oxygen permeability.
Ms. Jost's work, which was written in English, is based on a total of seven publications that she published in international peer-reviewed journals as first author. “Ms. Jost has worked on a very topical subject with many challenging individual problems,” said doctoral supervisor Prof. Langowski.
About the prize winner
Dr. Verena Jost began her diploma studies in Food Technology and Biotechnology at the Weihenstephan Science Center for Nutrition, Land Use and Environment at the Technical University of Munich in 2004 and started her doctorate in 2009. Today she works in the research and development department at Hipp-Werke in Pfaffenhofen.
About the award
Dipl.- Ing. Peter Dornier (1917-2002) was a German entrepreneur, designer and inventor. The advisory board of the Peter Dornier Foundation, which he founded, has decided to award a Peter Dornier Prize on the occasion of his 100th birthday.
The prize is awarded to promote young talent and technical innovation. The scientific work should deal with feasible and above all sustainable ideas, for example in the areas of recycling, waste avoidance and lower energy consumption. The decision to award the prize is made by the Board of Directors and Advisory Board of the Peter Dornier Foundation. The prize is endowed with prize money of € 5.000.
Students of food chemistry have the opportunity to win the Silesia-Clemens Hanke Foundation Prize for their final theses.
The prize was established by Clemens Hanke, Managing Director of the flavor producer Silesia, after the foundation was set up to motivate young researchers to make a lasting contribution to the success of the food sector with their scientific research.
Since 2017, this science prize for the field of Food Chemistry has been awarded at the TUM School of Life Sciences as part of the graduation ceremony for Master's students.
Previous winners of the award
The Audi Foundation for Environment has created the SRM Award to promote outstanding achievements in the field of sustainable resource management. The prize is awarded to graduates of the Master's program in Sustainable Resource Management who, with their final thesis, contribute to a sustainable interaction between mankind, nature and technology. The SRM Award is endowed with EUR 1,500 and was presented for the first time in 2011.
In 2024, two Master's students from the TUM School of Life Sciences, Sina Heubel and Ahmad Awad, were presented with the SRM Award 2023. Sina Heubel's excellent Master's thesis dealt with the future of Europe's most important tree species and provides important insights for sustainable resource management and forest conversion. In his outstanding research, Ahmad Awad meticulously examined the conversion of agricultural and pasture land into urban areas. His master's thesis provides valuable insights for local urban and land use planning and highlights the need for sustainable development strategies. Learn more
In 2023, two Master's students from the TUM School of Life Sciences - Alena Anderson Chilian-Heeb and Franziska Kraft - were honoured for their outstanding theses. Alena Chilian-Heeb's work contributes to a better understanding of sustainable soil fertility management and the function of soils as carbon reservoirs, which is particularly important in times of global change. In her thesis, Franziska Kraft focussed on the simulation of forest fires in order to investigate the effects of a possible increase in forest fires for Central Europe, investigating the microstructure during freeze-drying and describing its influence on the drying kinetics. Learn more
In 2022, the two researchers, Lauren Former and Yanin Pawijit, won the award for their Master's theses in the Sustainable Research Management (SRM) programme at the TUM School of Life Sciences Freising-Weihenstephan.
Lauren Former's thesis deals with the topic of how to deal with water scarcity in California and Bavaria.
In Yanin Pawijit's work, the researcher focussed on the effects of different land uses in urban areas during heavy rainfall events. Learn more
In 2021, the two researchers, Astrid Manciu and Tiffany Yu, received the award for their master's theses in the Sustainable Research Management (SRM) program at the TUM School of Life Sciences Freising-Weihenstephan. In her work, Astrid Manciu focused on the role of vegetation in the climate system and Tiffany Yu investigated the effects of proximity to nature on human health. Learn more
In 2020, the "Sustainable Resource Management Award" (SRM) went to Dayana Ramirez Gutierrez, a young researcher at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). In her master's thesis, the researcher deepened her knowledge of "Stakeholder Knowledge Mapping" (SKM) and developed a concept for initial operationalization.
The Thurn und Taxis Forest Science Award was established in 1978. According to the will of the founder, H.S.H. Johannes Prince of Thurn and Taxis, it is intended to honor young academics who have distinguished themselves through outstanding achievements in the field of forestry science during and after their studies. The prize is awarded annually and is endowed with 6,000 euros. It is intended to finance a further study or research stay abroad.
In 2016, Dr. Christian Schunk from the Technical University of Munich received the Thurn und Taxis Award for his doctoral thesis at the Professorship Ecoclimatology. His thesis dealt with the past, present and future risk of forest fires in Central Europe.
Isabelle Jarisch was delighted to receive the Gerd Wegener Travel Grant 2019 in the amount of 1,000 euros. As part of her Master's thesis at the Department of Forest Inventory and Sustainable Use, Ms Jarisch spent three months in South Africa. In the province of KwaZulu-Natal, she collected data on forest production with pine and eucalyptus, as well as avocado cultivation, from the cooperation partner Hans-Merensky-Holding in order to evaluate these forms of land use on the basis of their financial returns and risks.
The aim of the master's thesis is to make recommendations for a future mixed farm portfolio that offers the opportunity to react more robustly to production risks such as fire, hail and drought. Ms. Jarisch travelled to several farm locations to evaluate the opportunities, risks and financial data of the various forms of production in discussions with local experts.
The travel grant was awarded by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dr. habil. Drs.h.c. Gerd Wegener, former Professor of Wood Science and Wood Technology at TUM, and was awarded for the first time in 2012. The annual grant of 1,000 euros is intended to promote student mobility, in particular by supporting academic achievements and study visits abroad.
Christina Dollinger was awarded the sponsorship prize of 500 euros in 2022 for her English-language master's thesis in Biology. The subject of her research was different forest conversion strategies in the maintenance zone of the national park, particularly with regard to climate change. The title: “Evaluating the long-term success of currently and historically applied forest management strategies in the management zone of the Berchtesgaden National Park under climate change”.
Antonia Neubauer convinced the jury in the same year with her bachelor's thesis in Forest Science and Resource Management. The topic of her thesis: “The influence of forest development phase and altitude on the occurrence of habitat trees in mountain forests”. She received a prize of 300 euros.
The prize for bachelor's and master's theses in the Berchtesgaden National Park is awarded annually. The research on which the thesis is based must have taken place in Berchtesgaden National Park.
Since 2012, the TUM Alumni Club Landschaft (ACL) annually awards its Engagement price for the appreciation of students in landscape architecture and Landscape planning, which in addition to the normal study activities is in outstanding for the university community and in this way contribute to the good reputation and success of of our landscape studies at the TUM.
| Year | Award winner | Engagement |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Felix Zimmermann | Through his many years of continuous commitment to the design of the "green infrastructure" of the Technical University of Munich and the self-build initiatives around the "Landscape" building (4219) on the TUM Weihenstephan campus, Felix Zimmermann has responsibly supported and actively promoted the university community. |
| 2022 | Luis Neumeier | Luis Neumeier has been active in the student council since his second semester (summer semester 2019). He is a member of the student council's executive team and the School Council of the TUM School of Life Sciences. He is actively involved in committees such as the Study Grant Commission, in the quality management of the Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning degree program as well as in planning and as a semester speaker. |
| 2021 | Annika Arndt | Annika Arndt has been a member of the Fachschaft Landschaft since November 2019. As a tutor, she was an ever-present point of contact for students in the younger semesters. She represented the student council in official committees such as the Studienkommission Landschaft (SKL) and volunteered both inside and outside TUM. |
| 2020 | Katharina Dropmann | In 2020, Katharina Dropmann, B.Sc. Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning, received the 9th ACL Engagement Award. She was honored for her commitment to the Fachschaft Landschaft und in the Bundesfachschaft Landschaft (BUFALA) |
Every year, the bdla Bayern awards prizes for outstanding final theses in landscape architecture in Bavaria. The prize is awarded for work that describes new fields of activity for landscape architects, shows trend-setting design solutions or scientific methods or has a special practical relevance.
Winners of the bdla Young Talent Award from the Chair of Landscape Architecture and Transformation and the Chair of Landscape Architecture and Public Space
The Otto Linne Award for Urban Landscape Architecture was awarded to students of the TUM School of Life Sciences in 2023. Under the motto "Between the lines - the blue-green neighbourhood of tomorrow", young planners were able to submit creative ideas on how neighbourhoods of the post-war decades can be combined with climate-adapted open spaces.
Katharina von Unold and Vincent Wenk, landscape architecture students at TUM, won the first prize of 5,000 euros. Their design provides for structural redensification and a modified access route. The idea behind it: to break up the monotony of the terraced buildings and give the open spaces in the neighbourhood different qualities through differentiated climate adaptation measures.
The prize enables students and graduates to engage with current topics and challenges in the field of landscape architecture. It is awarded in honour of the first Hamburg garden director Otto Linne (1869 - 1937). The prize promotes the professional development of young planners and recognises outstanding achievements in urban landscape architecture. It has been awarded approximately every three years since 1994.
The DAAD Prize of the Year 2024, endowed with 1,000 euros, goes to Maria Elisa Magnoni: She came to TUM from Brazil to study Environmental Engineering. She then decided to study Engineering Ecology at the Freising campus. This interdisciplinary master's degree program focuses on ecosystems and environmental planning.
The aim of the DAAD prize is to make students from abroad more visible. It recognizes students in Germany not only for their outstanding academic achievements, but also for their volunteer work at German universities: Maria Elisa Magnoni is active in the student council and in the Brazilian student group BRASA Munique. She is a student representative on the Sustainable Campus Development Taskforce at TUM. She is also involved in the student initiative “Plant a Seed” and in the Environmental Department of the Student Council.
Learn more about the prize winner: TUM student Maria Elisa Magnoni receives the DAAD Prize