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Excellent Young Researcher

Freiburg Junior Professor Dr. Pieter Samyn to Receive Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize 2012

Freiburg, Mar 15, 2012

Dr. Pieter Samyn, junior professor at the Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences of the University of Freiburg, has been selected as one of six young researchers to receive a Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize 2012. The materials scientist is receiving the prize for his research on the sustainable use of biomaterials from forestry as nanoscale components for functional bio-based composite materials. “This is the second year in a row that a young scholar from the University of Freiburg has been chosen for this important distinction. That is a testament to the quality of our early-stage researchers. Pieter Samyn’s interdisciplinary research is contributing to an area that enhances the research profile of our university, sustainability research,” said Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the University of Freiburg.

Samyn’s research focuses on the sustainable use of natural materials. He has served as the Robert Bosch Junior Professor for the “Sustainable Use of Natural Resources” at the University of Freiburg since 2011. He previously conducted research into bio-based polymers and fiber technology by combining mechanical and chemical sciences with macromolecular nanotechnology. At the Institute of Forest Utilization and Work Science and the Freiburg Materials Research Center, he is working on defining new applications for renewable bio-based raw materials, for instance for the coating of textiles or the sensor industry.

The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize is awarded by the German Research Foundation and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The 16,000 euro prize is the most important award for early-stage researchers in Germany. The prizes will be awarded at the federal offices of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Berlin on 23 May 2012.

Further information on Pieter Samyn’s research:
www.uni-freiburg.de/go/biobasis-en


Contact:

Dr. Pieter Samyn
Institute of Forest Utilization and Work Science
University of Freiburg
Phone: 0761/203-9239
E-Mail: pieter.samyn@fobawi.uni-freiburg.de