Award of the Josef Umdasch Research Prize 2008

Amstetten, 2008-12-01

The Josef Umdasch Research Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of forestry and timber science was awarded for the ninth time at a function held on 26th November 2008 at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna. The main prize was awarded for research into a timber preservative based on natural substances.

The € 25,000 Josef Umdasch Research Prize 2008 went to Prof. Dr. Antonio Pizzi and Dr. Marie-France Thévenon for their research project “PROBOR - Low or no-toxicity, environment-friendly proteins and vegetable oil borates as wood preservatives of natural origin”. This scientific paper deals with research into a new preservative – based on environment-friendly and largely non-toxic substances – for timber in earth contact, and was written at the French research institution École Nationale Supérieure des Technologies et Industries du Bois (ENSTIB). The main prizewinners’ research topic was also the subject of discussion for a distinguished panel of experts at the first-ever “Josef Umdasch Research Dialogue”.

The € 5000 Josef Umdasch Recognition Prize 2008 was awarded to Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Michael Grabner for his research paper “X-ray micro computer tomography – new insights in the field of timber utilisation”. The subject of this paper is the analysis and dating of finds of archaeological wood using high-resolution micro-tomography, and the application of this method to other fields of timber research. It was written at the Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering of the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna.

The award ceremony took place in the presence of Hilde Umdasch and Alfred Umdasch, the endowers of the Josef Umdasch Research Prize and owners of the Umdasch Group, Rector Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Ingela Bruner and the Vice-Rector with responsibility for research, Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Martin H. Gerzabek.
Endowed with a total of 30,000 euros, the Josef Umdasch Research Prize is put up for competition internationally every two years in memory of the company’s founder Josef Umdasch, to honour outstanding achievements in the fields of forestry and timber science. The Prize is an affirmation of the value of scientific research as an indispensable precursor of company-specific and product-specific research and development work, as well as being a particular expression of the Umdasch Group’s ties to the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, with which it enjoys a long-standing and intensive working relationship.