Travel grant enables participation in international congress

Insa Mannott, a doctoral student from Bremerhaven, has been awarded the Ulrich Florin Foundation's doctoral scholarship. She will use the scholarship to finance her participation in the renowned international congress of the European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST) next year. There she not only wants to gather new insights from the food industry, but also present her PhD topic. "I am delighted to receive the award and am grateful that I was recommended by Prof Dr Ramona Bosse and selected for the prize by the jury," says Insa Mannott.

Insa Mannott has been working as a scientific and technical assistant at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences since 2018 and provides support in the laboratory practicals in microbiology, algae biotechnology and bioprocess engineering, among others. In addition to the voluntary supervision of theses, student projects and smaller research projects, she has successfully applied for stays as a visiting scientist in Scotland, where she researched topics related to microalgae cultivation. Since 2020, she has been working as a research assistant on the "OvoFerm" project. The aim of this project is to produce a fermented creamy dessert from egg white. Ms Mannott was able to present her initial results at the EFFoSt 2022 international congress in Dublin and at a poster exhibition in Valencia at the beginning of November 2023. 

The scientific questions associated with the project serve Ms Mannott as the basis for her doctorate, which was successfully accepted in 2022 in cooperation with the University of Hohenheim. Thanks to her numerous activities, she was also selected as one of three female scientists for an internal qualification programme at the university. "The 'start-up funding for doctoral candidates' of the BMBF-funded project "BeProf@BHV" enables me to focus my preparations for the doctorate and to acquire funding, which was difficult to do part-time," says Insa Mannott.

Prof Dr Ramona Bosse, head of the "Ovoferm" project, nominated Insa Mannott for the award. She says: "Insa Mannott is a highly motivated, hard-working and technically very competent doctoral student. The renewed participation in the EFFoSt conference through the Ulrich Florin Foundation's doctoral sponsorship award will enable Ms Mannott to expand her network and take new research impulses with her to further shape research on sustainable, fermented foods for the future."