Awards and Honors
Dr. Lena Scheiffele was awarded the prize for the best hydrological dissertation by the German Hydrological Society.
In many regions of Europe, water has long since become an issue. A particularly complex question concerns how and when groundwater is formed in landscapes. In her dissertation, geoecologist Lena Scheiffele investigated how groundwater recharge can be better recorded using the Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing (CRNS) method.
Lena Scheiffele completed her doctorate at the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Geography at the University of Potsdam and was part of the DFG research group "Cosmic Sense", which has been working on improving the measurement and evaluation methods around CRNS and making them applicable since 2018. Lena Scheiffele's cumulative doctoral thesis contains five scientific articles and a commentary, all of which have been published in recognized international journals.
The prize for outstanding dissertations in hydrology from the German Hydrological Society comes with prize money of EUR 1,500.
Leonna Szangolies was awarded the 2024 Elton Prize by the Journal of Animal Ecology for her outstanding article on the movement, metabolism, and dynamics of biodiversity in fragmented landscapes.
Understanding how species can coexist can be the key to preserving biodiversity, especially in the face of global environmental changes. Szangolies found that the energy balance and coexistence of species correlate with each other, which means that the energy dynamics of individual animals play an important role. This offers a better understanding of the ecology of species communities, especially in view of the prevailing environmental changes. The researcher's findings may support the development of practical nature conservation strategies.
After completing her bachelor's degree in Biomathematics, Leonna Szangolies obtained her master's degree in Ecology, Evolution, and Nature Conservation at the University of Potsdam. She has been working on her Ph.D. with the BioMove project at the University of Potsdam since 2021.
Prof. Dr. mult. Victor Tiberius was awarded an honorary doctorate (Dr. h. c.) by the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the Dunărea de Jos University of Galati.
In particular, the Romanian faculty recognized the diversity of the strategy researcher's publications and their high citation resonance. For many years, the scientist has had a close research partnership with the faculty in Galati, which has resulted in several jointly published studies.
Victor Tiberius has been researching and teaching at the University of Potsdam since 2010 and has been an honorary professor specializing in strategy and entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences since 2021. He also taught Corporate Strategy at ESCP Europe for three years. His research has been published in numerous international journals.He launched a variety of start-ups and made investments in start-ups in various sectors and was a commercial judge at the Berlin Regional Court for ten years and an honorary judge at the Berlin-Brandenburg Fiscal Court for five years.
Dr. Lina Marie Schauer was awarded this year's Berlin-Brandenburg Judicial Prize – Carl Gottlieb Svarez for her dissertation on "Reputation on Online Platforms".
Dr. Lina Marie Schauer's research is at the interface of law, economics, and economic sociology. The dissertation is of particular relevance for society in view of the significance of online reviews for the retail sector. After all, these platforms are among the most important sources of information to facilitate purchasing decisions.
Lina Marie Schauer holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Potsdam, where she passed her First State Examination in Law in 2020. Her dissertation, completed in 2023, was awarded the top grade of "summa cum laude". She also received a doctoral thesis award from the University Society Potsdam for her work.
Berlin and Brandenburg have alternately awarded the Svarez Prize for outstanding legal dissertations at one of the state's law faculties since 2011. The award is endowed with EUR 5,000 and named after the Prussian judicial reformer Carl Gottlieb Svarez (1746-1798).
