A jury of experts reviewed and evaluated pre-academic papers submitted by 64 soon-to-be AHS high school graduates. The 13^th annual Dr. Hans Riegel Awards were presented in recognition of outstanding papers in chemistry, mathematics, physics, biology, and computer science. The awards are accompanied with a total of € 7,250 in prize money, distributed among the winners. Senior year students from all over Upper Austria were eligible to submit their pre-academic paper and once again, the results were impressive.

The jury selected papers by eight female students and seven male students. The gifted young students submitted papers on a variety of topics ranging from artificial intelligence to prevent injuries, performance enhancement in American football, and how video games affect the brain, to environmental and sustainability issues, such as microplastics and macroplastics in the nests of various bird species, electromobility, graph theory, algae as food alternatives, and much more. A particularly noteworthy aspect is that this year, all three computer science award winners are from Steyr. Four awards went to Vöcklabruck, three to the BG/BRG Gmunden, and another three to the Europagymnasium Linz-Auhof.

Encouraging Young People to Conduct Research
O.Univ. Prof. DI Dr. Kurt Schlacher, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Natural Sciences, emphasized: "Once again, the JKU honored outstanding pre-academic papers in various STEM subject areas such as biology, chemistry, physics, computer sciences, and mathematics. The award-winning papers focus on scientific issues that students addressed by applying fairly sophisticated methods. Discovery and evidence-based action is a cornerstone to support a thriving pluralistic, open, and tolerant society. We need committed, hard-working and discerning school students and university students who have been able to master scientifically rational, knowledge-based reasoning to create approaches that could benefit everyone. We would be happy to welcome all of the participants as students at the JKU’s Faculty of Engineering & Natural Sciences in the future!"

The Kaiserschild Foundation focuses on encouraging young people to pursue STEM subject areas. The Dr. Hans Riegel Awards are presented in an effort to encourage gifted young people to pursue higher education or a career in natural sciences or engineering. The awards also serve as an important link between schools and the university by fostering interaction and dialogue as well as introducing the award-winning students to the university system early on.

Univ. Prof. Dr. Markus Achatz, a Kaiserschild Foundation board member, remarked: "The Kaiserschild Foundation created the Dr. Hans Riegel Awards to recognize outstanding pre-academic papers, encouraging soon-to-be high school graduates to pursue a career in a STEM field. During their studies, they also benefit from various support services, such as events and special seminars, as well as national networking opportunities."

Experimentation and Critical Analysis
Once again, this year’s students had an opportunity to present their research findings to a panel of university experts consisting of JKU faculty members. The award criteria included textbook use as a basis to independently write their paper, as well as the students' own experimentation and a critical examination of their hands-on experiments.

The awards are endowed with prize money for each subject area: €600 for the first-place winners, €400 for second-place winners, and €200 for the third-place winners. In addition, the first-place winners’ schools receive a material prize of € 250 in recognition of the teachers’ academic supervision.

Individual category winners:

Mathematics

• 1st Place: Paul Hametner from Europagymnasium Linz-Auhof: "Hilbert´s 17th Problem - Introduction, Proof and Generalisations"

• 2nd Place: Hanna Pillichshammer from BG Vöcklabruck: „Auszüge aus der Graphentheorie und ihre Berührungspunkte mit dem modernen Leben“

• 3rd Place: Ulrich Viehböck from Europagymnasium Linz-Auhof: „Mathematikkompetenzen von Jugendlichen nach einer von Corona-Maßnahmen geprägten AHS-Unterstufe“

Physics

• 1st Place: Veronika Feichtinger from  BG/BRG Gmunden: „Verschränkung für Amateure und Profis“

• 2nd Place: Paul Krupitz from BG/BRG Bad Ischl: „Der mögliche Beitrag von Elektromobilität zur Reduktion der Schadstoffemissionen auf Basis aktueller Technologien“

• 3rd Place: Kristin Zeilmayr from Europagymnasium Linz-Auhof: „Kernfusion als Energiequelle: Derzeitiger Stand der Forschung und Zukunftsaussicht“

Chemistry

• 1st Place: Nora Magdalena Weismann-Stolz from BG/BRG Gmunden: "The Influence of Carbon on Mechanical and Physical Properties of Powder-Metallurgical Steels"

• 2nd Place: Benjamin Aigner from BRG Solar City: „Grüner" Wasserstoff - Produktion und Verwendung“

• 3rd Place: Jonas Auer from BRG Schloss Wagrain: „Mikro- und Makroplastik im Nestbau verschiedener Vogelspezies“

Informatics

• 1st Place: Oliver Kovacs from BRG Steyr-Michaelerplatz: "CPU-Accelerated Real-Time Rendering of n-Dimensional Objects"

• 2nd Place: Florian Nowitzki from BRG Steyr-Michaelerplatz: „Augmented Reality zur Verletzungsprävention und Leistungssteigerung im American Football“

• 3rd Place: Johanna Mijatovic from BG/BRG Steyr-Werndlpark: „Video Games - "The Positive Effects on the Human Mind"

Biology

• 1st Place: Sarah Elisabeth Auer from BG Vöcklabruck: „Auswirkungen von verschiedenen Musikrichtungen auf das Wohlbefinden und die Legeleistung von Hühnern“

• 2nd Place: Sophie Elisa Aitzetmüller from BG/BRG Gmunden: „Wer nicht hören kann, muss fühlen: Analyse der Musikwahrnehmung bei hochgradiger Schwerhörigkeit anhand des Beispiels Evelyn Glennie“

• 3rd Place: Lena Vogl from BRG Schloss Wagrain: „Algen als klimafreundliche Nahrungsmittel-Alternative - Sind Algen ein geeignetes Nahrungsmittel für die Zukunft?“

Additional Information

www.hans-riegel-fachpreise.com, opens an external URL in a new window

www.jku.at/hansriegelfachpreise, opens an external URL in a new window

Send inquiries to::

Bernadette Weinreich

JKU University Communications

bernadette.weinreich(at)jku.at

Ph: 0732 2468 3016