The 2018 PhD Award of the International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS) goes to Dr. Marco Beaumont

Dr. Marco Beaumont’s PhD thesis "Characterization and Modification of a Cellulose II Gel" focused on a novel, wood-based nanomaterial from regenerated cellulose (cellulose II allomorph), a cellulose II gel obtained from the Lyocell process. The gel was comprehensively physicochemically characterized for the first time, and novel ways for its chemical modification were elaborated. During the less than three years of his PhD study, the awardee issued a total of six first-author publications, including five scientific articles (accumulated impact factor of 27) and a Wiley book chapter. The thesis was supervised by Thomas Rosenau and Antje Potthast, Department of Chemistry, Division of Chemistry of Renewable Resources. The project was conducted within the framework of the PhD School DokIn’Holz, funded by Lenzing AG and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy.

The IAWS PhD Award 2018 was granted on Tuesday, October 16th, during the IAWS 2018 Annual Meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico.