Borealis calls for contestants for its 2010 Student Innovation Award for innovative research

Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, has launched the Borealis Student Innovation Award 2010. The Award will recognise the two most innovative research papers on olefins or polyolefin. It forms part of the company’s aim of cultivating in young people a stronger interest in how innovation in plastics can create greater value for society.

There are two separate awards, one for a master’s degree graduate and one for a doctorate degree graduate. The two winning students will each receive the actual award and a certificate, plus a cash prize. This will be EUR 5,000 for the doctorate degree graduate and EUR 3,000 for the master’s degree graduate winner.

The theses will focus on one of five specific areas:

• new and improved synthesis routes to ethylene, propylene, butene-1, hexene-1, phenol
• novel catalysts for synthesis of polyethylene and polypropylene with outstanding activity
• polyethylene and polypropylene with outstanding stiffness and/or clarity
• modelling of polyolefin polymerisation processes
• polyolefin compounds with increased sustainability

Students need to submit abstracts of up to two pages by November 26, 2010. A jury composed of independent academics and Borealis representatives will assess the abstracts and select the winners. The awardees will be invited to present their theses during the Borealis Innovation Day event, which will take place in January 2011.

“The Borealis Student Innovation Award is open to graduates in the fields of chemistry, polymers or applications with a particular focus on olefins or polyolefins,” says Dr. Norbet Reichelt, responsible for the awards project. “We have had some truly excellent entries in the past, and we are sure we can keep up the tradition. We are looking for submissions from anywhere in the world.” Theses should not be more than two years old and must be finalised by the end of October 2010.

The Borealis Student Innovation Award aims to take steps in tackling six of the world’s major challenges, including; climate change, access to fresh water and energy, provision of secure communications, healthcare for a growing and aging global population, and the means to protect and deliver safe food across all regions. Borealis is active in all these areas, whether it be in plastics for all types of pipes, cabling, and advanced packaging, materials for lightweight vehicles, or through its support of the N-tester program that enables farmers to optimize the use of fertilizers by easily monitoring the nitrogen status of their crops.

The Award scheme ran for the first time last year, following a pilot scheme in 2008. The award for the best doctoral degree thesis went to US citizen Amir Jabri for his work on transition-metal catalysts used in polyolefin production. A study on polymeric nanocomposite fibres yielded Italien student Matteo D’Amato the award for the master’s degree thesis.

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For further information, please contact:

Kerstin Meckler, Communications Director
Tel. +43 122 400 389
Email: kerstin.meckler@borealisgroup.com