Sustainable future in focus: Bremen research receives CAMPUS PRIZE!

Sustainable future in focus: Bremen research receives CAMPUS PRIZE!

On May 7, 2025, the “CAMPUS PRIZE: Research for a Sustainable Future” was awarded at the University of Bremen, which this year honored a dissertation and two master’s theses. The winners are Mariela Tapia, Rohit Samant and Niccolò Orlandi. This award recognizes outstanding scientific work that deals with sustainable resource use, environmental protection and climate protection.

Mariela Tapia was recognized for her dissertation, in which she examined solutions to stabilize the electricity supply in Ecuador. This is currently based predominantly on hydropower and fossil fuels, which poses major challenges due to climate change and the associated fluctuations in water availability. Tapia has created meteorological datasets for 21 years of solar radiation and 14 years of wind data, showing that planned expansion of wind and solar energy can provide an important solution. Their goal is to develop a sustainable energy system for Ecuador in order to flexibly adapt the power supply.

Research contributions to marine geoscience

Rohit Samant received the award for his master's thesis in the field of marine geosciences. He studied water level changes in the Caspian Sea, which has no natural outlet. Samant's research has produced alarming results as climate models predict that water levels could fall by up to 14 meters by the end of the century. This development would not only dry up a quarter of the water surface, but would also threaten over 130 species of fish and 100 species of birds. The results of his work were used in a working paper by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) for the climate conference in Baku (COP29).

Niccolò Orlandi was honored for his master's thesis, which was written at the University of Bremen and the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT). In his research, he analyzed the sustainable use of marine resources in Tobago, a region with untapped natural resources. The focus is on exploiting economic potential in the areas of tourism, fishing and shipbuilding. Orlandi identified urgent needs for action, particularly in fisheries and tourism, and put forward proposals to promote traditional fishing methods and develop environmentally friendly aquaculture. Its goal is to preserve the original island nature and at the same time create economic options for the future.

The CAMPUS PRIZE in the context of sustainability

The CAMPUS PRIZE was launched in 2016 and is awarded annually by the KELLNER & STOLL FOUNDATION, the ZMT, the University of Bremen and the Alumni Association. The prize money is 3,000 euros and is intended not only to honor the award winners, but also to provide scientific inspiration for a sustainable future.

For more information about the CAMPUS PRIZE and the award-winning work, read more at University of Bremen and about the Blue Economy at vividam.