All three dissertation prizes awarded by the OLB Foundation as part of the OLB Science Prize go to the University of Oldenburg this year. Prizes were awarded for work in the fields of environmental sciences, medical technology and physics.
Environmental scientist Dr Isabel Goßmann, medical technician Dr Anna Schumacher and physicist Dr Jonathan Gößwein received this year's OLB Science Prize in the "Doctoral Thesis" category. The three university researchers impressed the six-member jury of the prize awarded by the Oldenburgische Landesbank Foundation with their dissertations.
Isabel Goßmann won the main prize of 5,000 euros. She worked at the Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment and was supervised by Prof Dr Heinz Wilkes. In her work, the researcher developed a new method for measuring microplastics resulting from tyre abrasion. Gossmann also used spider webs and carried out an expedition to the Arctic. The key finding of the study is that microplastics not only circulate on land, but also in the air and in the sea. The study also makes it clear that microplastics are an extremely diverse group of pollutants. The dissertation thus provides an important basis for better understanding microplastic flows and developing targeted measures to combat microplastic-related environmental pollution.
Anna Schumacher was awarded second prize (3,500 euros). She wrote her doctoral thesis at the School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences under Prof Dr Andreas Hein. Schumacher investigated the question of how robots can be used in nursing care to reduce the physical effort of nursing staff and, for the first time worldwide, experimentally quantified the corresponding potential. In their study, the use of a robotic system reduced the maximum effort required in the care process by up to 51 per cent and also significantly relieved the strain on the lower limbs and spine of care staff. The work lays the foundation for future research into robotics in care, with the transfer of research knowledge into practice taking centre stage.
Jonathan Gößwein receives the third prize (2,500 euros). He also completed his doctorate at School VI, supervised by Prof Dr Birger Kollmeier. In his dissertation, Gößwein developed a method that enables people to adjust their hearing aids independently and intuitively to their individual sound preferences. The method simplifies this process through a user-friendly interface on tablets or smartphones. In addition, Gößwein has developed a diagnostic test that records users' preferences in terms of noise cancellation. In the long term, this technology could help to ensure that more people with hearing problems have access to better customised hearing aids, which could significantly improve their quality of life.
In addition to the three dissertation prizes, the OLB Foundation also awards three prizes for outstanding master's theses. This year, these will go to graduates from the University of Osnabrück, the University of Vechta and Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences.
With the Science Prize, the OLB Foundation is making a contribution to the promotion of science in north-west Germany. Since 2000, the prize has been awarded for excellent work produced by graduates of state-recognised universities and colleges in the north-west and judged to be of outstanding quality by the respective university. Depending on the subject area, the jury uses criteria such as the degree of innovation, practical relevance, benefits for the environment and society and the form of presentation to assess the work. In addition to the technical level of the work, the jury members also assess the social significance, the courage in the choice of approach and the ability to develop topics in a special way and present them convincingly.
