Student Water Award of the Society of Water Chemistry

- supported by the Walter Kölle Foundation -

The Society of Water Chemistry of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) has awarded up to three Student Water Awards since 2026 in recognition of outstanding Master’s theses in the water chemistry disciplines of environmental and water sciences, environmental and water analysis, water engineering and related fields, distinguished by high innovation potential, compelling objectives and a clear structure. Each award comprises a certificate, prize money of 500 euros funded by the Walter Kölle Foundation and one year of free membership of the Society of Water Chemistry. The awards are presented as part of the annual WASSER conference. The prize committee consists of members of the Young Water Forum (JWF) ; the decision on the award is made by the Board of the Society of Water Chemistry.

Criteria for assessing the submitted work: (1) Abstract & introduction, (2) research hypotheses, (3) choice of methods, variety of methods & implementation, (4) clarity of discussion & conclusion, (5) potential impact on water research, (6) originality & discussion of the literature, (7) language & presentation, (8) time commitment & depth of research, (9) grade, (10) justification of the recommendation

Submission deadline: 31 October 2026

Objective
The Water Chemistry Division of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) has awarded up to three master’s theses since 2026 in the water chemistry fields of environmental and water sciences, environmental and water analysis, water engineering and related disciplines. The awards recognise scientifically outstanding work distinguished by high innovation potential, a convincing objective and a clear structure.

The award
Each award comprises a certificate, one year of free membership of the Division and prize money of 500 euros funded by the Walter Kölle Foundation. The award will be presented at the annual WATER 2027 Conference. The prize winners will be invited to present their award-winning work in the form of a scientific short lecture as part of the Conference. The Division will cover the Conference fees. The prize committee consists of members of the Young Water Forum (JWF); the decision on awarding the prize is made by the non-conflicted members of the Division’s executive board.

Nomination
Nominations are generally made by academic supervisors, who may submit a maximum of one proposal per year. Self-nominations are excluded. The master’s thesis must have been completed within the last 12 months before the submission deadline (date of the master’s certificate). All nominations must include the following documents:

• Nomination letter from the academic supervisor
• Master’s thesis and separate summary (max. 2 pages, A4, Arial 11 pt, single line spacing)
• Assessment of the master’s thesis
• Master’s certificate
• if applicable: list of the nominee’s own publications and Conference contributions (poster/lecture) resulting from the master’s thesis
• Curriculum vitae including contact details (email address)

Submission
Please send your proposal by email and combined into a single PDF file to the GDCh Office, for the attention of Maike Fries.

On 11 May 2026, the Student Water Award 2026 was presented for the first time on the occasion of the Water 2026 Conference to Emily Lichtenwald, Anita Lopes Souto and Jennifer Schmidt.

Emily Lichtenwald: "...in recognition of her outstanding master’s thesis entitled „Biotransformation of selected PFAS – Comparison between bacteria and fungi”. The thesis was completed in the working group of Dr. Daniel Zahn at Leipzig University and at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research."

Anita Lopes Souto: "... in recognition of her outstanding master’s thesis entitled „Identification of Ozone-induced Transformation Pathways of Cyanobacterial Toxins“. The thesis was completed in the working group of PD Dr. Elisabeth Janssen at the University of Zurich and Eawag."

Jennifer Schmidt: "... in recognition of her outstanding master’s thesis entitled „In vitro toxicity of road runoff from different road types using reporter-gene assays“. The thesis was completed in the working group of Dr. Sabrina Schiwy at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main."

* at the time of the award