Sustainable drinking water supply, innovative water treatment, and new approaches to energy generation – this year’s recipients of the special award “The Power of Water” demonstrate how passionately young people are addressing the challenges surrounding one of our most valuable resources: water.
Since 2023, the Josef Wund Foundation has been supporting the German youth science competition Jugend forscht as a funding partner, sponsoring the state-level special award “The Power of Water” in both the Jugend forscht and Schüler experimentieren categories. The award aims to encourage young people who develop solutions to today’s water-related challenges through creativity, scientific curiosity, and innovative ideas.
This year’s award winners have now been announced: A total of 26 students received recognition for their outstanding projects. Their work addresses highly relevant topics and highlights the wide range of innovative approaches to water research already being explored by young scientists.
Innovative ideas for tomorrow’s challenges
The award-winning projects focus on topics such as removing pharmaceutical residues from water, developing more efficient water treatment technologies, and creating sustainable methods for providing drinking water in arid regions.
Other teams are researching energy-efficient seawater desalination techniques or developing solutions for environmental and water protection – including cost-effective underwater drones for monitoring aquatic ecosystems and environmentally friendly methods for tackling oil pollution.
The connection between water and sustainable energy also plays a key role. One team, for example, developed an automated bioreactor that uses algae to produce hydrogen, making biological processes applicable to the energy transition.
The award-winning projects clearly demonstrate the remarkable innovative potential of young people. Through scientific curiosity, technical expertise, and creative problem-solving, they are already making valuable contributions to addressing some of the most pressing challenges of the future.
Supporting young talent beyond the competition
For the Josef Wund Foundation, its commitment does not end with the award ceremony. The recipients are also given the opportunity to apply for the JWS Water Expert Scholarship. Through this scholarship, the foundation supports talented young people who wish to pursue university studies with a focus on water-related topics and continue their academic careers in this important field.
Through its partnership with Jugend forscht, the Josef Wund Foundation aims to inspire young people to engage with water-related issues from an early stage, promote scientific excellence, and contribute to developing innovative solutions for the challenges of tomorrow.
