Borealis awards innovative polymer prizes to Austrian and Italian scholars

Two students carrying out important research on polyolefins have been recognized by Borealis, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, under its new Student Innovation Award scheme. The students will receive their awards at the annual Innovation Day that Borealis is celebrating in Linz, Austria, on January 21, 2009.

For his doctoral degree on norbornene-based polyolefins by post-metallocene catalysts, Italian student Dr. Andrea Ravasio will receive 5,000 euros, while a masters degree thesis on scavengers and chemical bonding for defined volatile components in polyolefins yields Austrian student Andreas Fuchs 3,000 euros.

“The Borealis Student Innovation Award recognises the two most innovative research papers at masters and doctorate level on polyolefins, olefins or melamine sciences,” says Dr. Christian Paulik, Manager for External Research and Funding at Borealis. “Our aim is to engage young people in our vision of Shaping the Future with Plastics. These two important research projects symbolize exactly the spirit that we are trying to capture.”

Ravasio's doctoral dissertation was carried out at the University of Pavia, under Professor Maurizio Licchelli and Incoronata Tritto. Professor Tritto says that Dr. Ravasio showed himself to be very talented in the design and synthesis of organometallic compounds and copolymers.

“What singled out Andrea was his comprehensive knowledge of catalysis for olefin and cyclo-olefin copolymerization,” says Christian Paulik in explaining the decision to give the doctorate award to Dr. Ravasio.

Andreas Fuchs studied for his Masters degree at the Johannes Kepler University, Linz, under the tutelage of Professor Oliver Brüggemann, who describes him as “one of the best co-workers I have worked with in my career”.

Fuchs' thesis shows new ways to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from polyolefins. “This work is set in the real world,” says Christian Paulik. “Andreas's findings might well help in the development of future polymers.”

END

For further information please contact:

Kerstin Meckler, Borealis Group Media Relations Manager, 
Tel. +43 1 22 400 389
kerstin.meckler@borealisgroup.com