Six young researchers' prizes awarded: How students advance science and practice

How can we ensure the quality of our food? How can nutritional counselling and therapy be improved for the benefit of patients? And how can food supply be made more sustainable, for example by wasting less food? When it comes to our nutrition, our food and a sustainable supply, there are still a lot of unanswered questions in science as well as in practice. Students at Fulda University of Applied Sciences repeatedly make outstanding contributions to closing these gaps with their final theses and projects. The Scientific Centre for Nutrition, Food and Sustainable Supply Systems, or ELVe for short, awarded five theses with the ELVe Young Scientists Prize. Another prize was awarded to an eight-member student project group for their innovative work. The winners can look forward to 200 euros and 300 euros respectively.

"With these awards, we want to promote young researchers and at the same time show that research and transfer also live and profit from the contributions of our students," says Professor Dr Stephanie Hagspihl, who is part of the ELVe management team. At the same time, the ELVe aims to give an impression of the wide range of topics in the field of nutrition, food and sustainable supply and the broad expertise that Fulda University of Applied Sciences has in these areas. It was therefore particularly pleasing that work from very different courses of study had been submitted for the ELVe Prize.

The jury attested that all the works were of a very high scientific level and at the same time highly relevant to practice. They by no means only closed research gaps, but at the same time made a contribution to advancing practical action in the areas of nutrition, food and sustainable supply.

Nutrition category:
Better care in nutrition therapy and short bowel syndrome
In the nutrition category, the award went to two graduates. Laura Hoffmann (27) dealt with a fundamental question of nutrition counselling and therapy in her Master's thesis in Public Health Nutrition. Which of the available methods is best suited to collect the food consumption of the last weeks and months, the so-called diet history? Since patients and clients have to provide the most accurate data possible via self-reporting so that counselling and therapy can be planned individually and with the greatest possible chances of success, the Diet History is of great importance. The aim of the study was therefore to examine which of the methods available so far can be recommended for use in nutrition counselling and therapy.
She comes to the conclusion that none of the methods available so far can be recommended without reservation. Nevertheless, Laura Hoffmann provides precise recommendations for nutrition counselling and therapy. She is also able to show that electronic instruments, for example auditory and visual approaches, help to improve the data quality of the Diet History.

The jury acknowledged the work's extraordinary significance for dietetic practice. It makes a decisive contribution to the transfer between research and nutrition practice. Because with a methodologically sound recording of the diet history, the quality of care for patients and clients can be significantly improved.

Johanna Strzelczyk (26) investigated the health-related quality of life of patients with short bowel syndrome, a rare, severe disease that sometimes requires artificial feeding. The aim of her work in the Bachelor's degree programme in Oecotrophology was to develop a better understanding of the views and problem perceptions of those affected, particularly with regard to their health-related quality of life, and on this basis to develop recommendations for action for medical professionals, among others. Using guided interviews, she asked those affected about the psychological, physical, social and functional dimensions of their quality of life.
One of the central results: It is precisely the inexperience of doctors, which is due to the fact that it is a rare disease, that has a great influence on the physical and psychological well-being of those affected.

The jury found that Johanna Strzelczyk had gained new insights into a disease that had previously been little researched. From this, concrete recommendations for action can now be derived.

Food category:
Pesticide residues under control
Paula Kuchheuser (26) was awarded in the food category. With her Master's thesis in International Food Business and Consumer Studies (IFBC), she made a contribution to food safety in the European Union. She examined more than 4,600 notifications of pesticide residues in food from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). If a health risk is detected when the defined maximum values are exceeded, then a notification is made in the RASFF. The graduate examined these reports with a focus on the affected products, the causal pesticides and the countries of origin involved. She also considered the legal framework and the selected risk management measures as possible influencing factors.
The work shows that there were many reports, especially on products from third countries. In part, the risk management measures are reflected in the notifications; for example, increased import controls on certain foods from certain countries of origin led to increased notifications in the corresponding period. Import controls and rejections of non-compliant foods are therefore an important means to protect European consumers. Products from the member states were less frequently affected, but some of them contained unacceptable residues.

The jury emphasised that the findings were highly relevant not only for the food industry in view of increasing demands on the quality, safety and sustainability of food, but also with regard to the ambitious goals of the pesticide policy of the EU and its member states within the framework of the Farm-to-Fork Strategy and the European Green Deal. The publication of two papers in the specialist journal Food Control underlines the practical relevance, he said.

Sustainable Supply Category:
More legal certainty for food savers, more sustainability in large-scale kitchens

Two papers received awards in the Sustainable Supply category. Maren Nywelt (29) dealt with the legal hurdles for food sharing, i.e. the redistribution of food, in her Bachelor's thesis in Oecotrophology. It can help reduce avoidable food waste. What is highly urgent for climate protection and the fight against world hunger is, however, risky from a legal perspective. Food savers are caught between food rescue on the one hand and consumer health protection on the other. If the same standards are applied to them as to food businesses, then foodsharing can have criminal consequences for associations and every person involved. How can existing liability and food law regulations be changed to make food rescue easier for food savers and safer for consumers at the same time? This is what Maren Nywelt investigated in her thesis based on qualitative interviews with experts.

According to the jury, the graduate shows which legal adjustments need to be made in connection with foodsharing. At the same time, she provided approaches to further increase consumer protection.

Lukas Wendling (27) convinced the jury with a technical-physical topic. The graduate of the dual Bachelor's programme Lifecycle Catering presented a laboratory-experimental work. He investigated which variables - heating, loading, door opening and type of lid - play a role in ensuring that food in a transport container maintains its core temperature for as long as possible. The topic is particularly important for food safety in catering. First, he used Hipor test stones as a test medium and examined how quickly they cool down in relation to the variables. In a second series of tests, he cross-checked the results and measured what influence the variables have on food. In this way, he was able to determine what temperature losses occur per hour. Finally, he derived recommendations for action for commercial kitchens from the experimental data.

The jury judged the work to be very innovative. With his systematic series of experiments, Lukas Wendling provided data on the cooling of food for the first time in an investigation that did not exclusively use food as a test medium.

Project work category:
A QM toolbox for smaller companies
Because important scientific and practice-relevant work is also done in projects that are an integral part of studies in the Department of Oecotrophology, the ELVe also awards such work. The prize went to a team of eight students from the International Food Business and Consumer Studies (IFBC) course. They developed a toolbox for quality management. It is intended to help smaller companies as well as start-ups in the food industry to filter out the suitable QM tools from the abundance without much effort. Because smaller companies usually have the problem that they lack the resources for such tasks. At the same time, product safety and customer requirements are central topics for which they need appropriate tools. The students have catalogued the tools and made them accessible via Excel.

The jury found the toolbox to be very useful, especially for start-ups. The example shows that project work can also provide the basis for new developments. The toolbox will now be further developed as part of a larger project.
All students and graduates of Fulda University of Applied Sciences can apply for the ELVe Young Talent Award, regardless of their subject area. Prerequisite: The final thesis or project must deal with an ELVe-relevant topic from the fields of natural sciences and technology, computer science, economics, home economics, nutrition or social sciences. The work must also have been assessed with a grade of at least 1.3. The ELVe Young Scientists Award was presented for the second time.

About the Centre for Nutrition, Food and Sustainable Supply Systems (ELVe) at Fulda University of Applied Sciences
The scientific centre ELVe is one of seven scientific centres and research associations at Fulda University of Applied Sciences. Here, professors, research assistants and students jointly research, develop and support projects in the fields of nutrition, food and sustainable supply and catering systems.
The ELVe sees it as its task to network the competences and expertise from the different subject areas and to create a transfer between research, practice and society. The centre combines research activities, teaching and staff from the fields of oecotrophology, economics, food technology and informatics. It aims to further strengthen interdisciplinarity, because many questions in the field of nutrition and food and the supply systems can only be solved in an interdisciplinary way.
In particular, the ELVe pursues the goal of promoting young scientists across all qualification levels, i.e. giving students the opportunity to participate in ongoing research projects and to get connected to practice. The centre also supports students in pursuing a scientific career and doctorate.

Here you can find more detailed information on the work of the winners.