And the winner of the Menno Knetsch Master Thesis Award 2020 is…

This year during the virtual Zoom graduation ceremony for the master students of the Biobased Materials programme, the Menno Knetsch Master Thesis Award was handed out to Sophie Koch.

Koch received this award for her thesis about the combination of modified wood and bio-based polymers with the aim to develop entirely bio-based and biodegradable composites.

I feel incredibly honored to receive this award in Menno Knetsch’s name. I hope my thesis can contribute to raising awareness that wood can play a crucial role in the transition towards a more sustainable society. 

- Sophie Koch

About the Menno Knetsch Master Thesis Award

The prize, a cheque of €500, is made available by the Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials (AMIBM). The award is handed out during the yearly graduation ceremony of the master’s programme in Biobased Materials. This year Prof. Yvonne van der Meer handed out the award to the winner.

Criteria for the best master thesis are:

  • Overall mark for the master thesis
  • The contribution to the scientific domain of biobased materials and/or its application
  • The innovative aspects of the topic, as well as the context in which the research was executed

The Menno Knetsch Master Thesis Award is being set-up in the remembrance of our highly appreciated colleague and friend Menno Knetsch, the first Programme Director of the Master Biobased Materials.

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