Public Inforamtion

The Young Scientists Competition at the NUTRIMENTHE International Conference, 13th September 2013

The NUTRIMENTHE project was pleased to welcome six finalists to the NUTRIMENTHE Young Scientists Competition which took place during the Young Scientists Forum of the NUTRIMENTHE International Conference, 13th September in Granada, Spain.

The aim of the competition was to give young scientists the opportunity to showcase their work to their peers and an internationally renowned audience of researchers. There was no age limit, but competitors but they had to confirm that they did not hold a senior faculty position at their institution at the time of the competition. In total, 42 Ph.D students and Post-doctoral fellows from 23 countries submitted abstracts to the competition, including from Indonesia, Iran, Brazil, and Bangladesh. After the abstract submission deadline, an international panel of experts reviewed each abstract, which had to describe work that had not been previously published or presented at any other meeting prior to the competition. The abstracts were ranked according to their score and the authors of the top six were selected to give a 10 minute presentation of their work at the Young Scientists Forum.

The finalists were questioned by a panel of three judges who critiqued each presentation according to, among other criteria, the scientific content, clarity of presentation and calmness of the finalist in handling the judges’ questions.  Penalties could be awarded for going over the allotted time.

“All six presentations were of a very high standard, and the participants had clearly invested time and effort in preparing for the competition. Their slides were excellent and they all kept to time”explained judge Dr Mary Fewtrell from University College London, UK.  She added, “ranking the top three into first, second and third position was a challenge!” Judges, Professor Louise Dye from the University of Leeds, UK and Professor JyrkiSuomala from University of Applied Sciences, Laurea, Finland agreed.

The winner was NiklasTimby from Umea University, Sweden, for his presentation “Supplementation with milk fat globule membranes to infant formula improves cognitive performance and reduces morbidity in infections in formula-fed infants”

Niklas said,“I was very glad to have the opportunity to attend the NUTRIMENTHE International Conference and take part in the fascinating research area of early nutrition and neurodevelopment.  It was a great pleasure to present my work to an experienced audience in such a friendly atmosphere” he added, “to be awarded first prize among my fellow competitors, whose presentations I appreciated very much, was a great honour and has given me much inspiration for my future research!”

Second place was awarded to Jolien Steenweg – de Graaff from the Erasmus Medical Centre, The Netherlands for her presentation “Maternal LC-PUFA status during pregnancy and child internalising and externalising problems.  The Generation R Study” ” and third place was awarded to Dr Sarah Bath from the University of Surrey, UK for her presentation “The effect of iodine deficiency during pregnancy on hearing threshold in the offspring”

Cash prizes of €1000, €700 and €550 were awarded for first, second and third place in addition tothe gift of a travel grant to attend the competition and free entry to the NUTRIMENTHE Conference Dinner.The runners up each received a travel grant and free entry to the NUTRIMENTHE Conference Dinner.Swedish company, Sobi, sponsored the competition, which was organised by NUTRIMENTHE partner, Beta Technology. Four other applicants to the competition were awarded the opportunity to present their abstracts during the programme of the main NUTRIMENTHE conference. 

In the photo from left to right:

Jolien Steenweg-de Graaff, Sarah Bath, Louise Sorenson, Niklas Timby, Matilde Zornoza-Moreno, Mariona Gispert Llaurado, Mary Fewtrell, Louise Dye and Jyrki Suomala.