TU WIEN PCT-Group News
Robert, Kathi, Vojta, Edma, Hannah, Björn, and Harshi attended the Young Polymer Researchers Austria 2026 conference in Leoben. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas, present our latest research, and connect with fellow young researchers in the field of polymer science. While Edma won the Best Poster Award, Björn received the Best Talk Award.
Work hard, play harder! Our research group recently packed up and headed to Velký Meder for a much-needed getaway.
It was the perfect blend of relaxation and team building. Beyond stepping away from our desks to unwind by the local lake, we chopped, stirred, and cooked a wonderful meal together. We kept the energy going with a competitive quiz game and wrapped things up with an unforgettable karaoke night that revealed some truly hidden (and hilarious) talents.
Overall, it was a fantastic chance to recharge, and create great memories together outside the lab, proving that our group chemistry isn’t just cross‑linked – it’s unbreakable
In June, our group made a strong showing at the Advanced Functional Polymers for Medicine (AFPM) Conference in London. Stefan delivered an invited talk, while Mina and Selina showcased their latest work in the poster sessions – highlighted by Selina receiving the RSC Poster Prize. Beyond exploring the buzzing city and a local pub quiz, we enjoyed an exceptional scientific program spanning biotechnology, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine, fuelling interesting conversations and new networking opportunities.
Once again, a the FBMC took part in the Annual Meeting of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration. Next to exciting scientific talks and great conversations with colleagues from all over Austria and abroad, Philip was also able to secure the “Best Presentation Young Investigator Award” continuing the longstanding FBMC success series of securing the Young Investigator Award since 2022 (2022: Lisa Sinawehl, 2023: Antonella Fantoni, 2024: Danijela Bogdanovic, 2025: Miriam Zintl & Antonella Fantoni). Congratulations!
On the Long Night of Research 2026 in Vienna, a small group around Davide showed the spellbound audience, the presence and importance of glycans in our body and the food we consume
Roughly two months before the soccer world cup, a different kind of tournament stole the spotlight: the legendary TCH Cup. Crowds flocked to the Westfield Soccer Arena on April 7 - by some estimates, anywhere between “a lot” and “millions” (give or take) - to cheer on the pros and witness history in the making. The FBMC arrived with confidence and a proud legacy, since they’ve lifted the trophy here before. But let’s be honest: while goals were scored and matches were played, the real competition happened off the pitch. Alongside the soccer, there was a highly prestigious award for the most hydrated team. And by “hydrated,” we mean Spritzer-fueled excellence. Some say it’s the only trophy that truly matters. We don’t disagree. True to form, the FBMC started strong, heroically losing most of their soccer games while delivering a masterclass at the bar. Stamina? Impeccable. Team spirit? Unbeatable. Glasses? Never empty. In the end, justice prevailed: the desired Spritzer Trophy went exactly where it belonged - to the FBMC. Cheers to champions who know their strengths.
It has already become a yearly tradition for our group to attend the TU Ball in Hofburg, which is one of the oldest ball events in Vienna. Lab coats were exchanged for glamorous dresses and fancy suits and lots of hours were spent dancing in the elegant ballrooms of the Hofburg palace.
The annual FBMC Christmas Party is a cherished tradition and the perfect way to celebrate the end of another successful year. Current group members prepare a delicious homemade buffet, showcasing their culinary talents before gathering with students and alumni for a festive evening filled with great food, laughter, and good company. One of the highlights is our traditional Schrottwichteln (Secret Santa), which never fails to bring plenty of surprises and holiday cheer. Together, we reflect on the past year, celebrate our achievements, and enjoy the wonderful sense of community that makes FBMC so special.
Here's to many more memorable Christmas celebrations - we're already looking forward to everything the coming year will bring!
On this year’s annual meeting of the Austrian Society of Rheology, 2025, members of the FBMC group presented our recent advances in the field of rheology. In addition to an excellent presentation by Stefan on the development of artificial vascular grafts, Kaja, Theresa, and Philip managed to secure all of the three availale prices for “Best Poster” after a round of stunning pitch presentations.
Jelena, Antonella, Björn and Thomas, accompanied by Robert, represented the team at RadTech Europe 2025 in Warsaw. A major highlight of the trip was Jelena winning the Best Paper Award for her research!
Over the summer Davide and Daniel attended the 22nd European Carbohydrate Symposium in Gdansk, Poland. They presented advances in glycosylation analysis and Daniel’s poster titled O-Glycosylation patterns in post-viral fatigue syndrome: Sialic acid-preserving chemical release was voted the best one among the conference participants. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Chrissie, Mina, and Björn for winning the poster award at the TCH Science Days 2025 with their posters titled “Micropatterning polymer brushes on confined surfaces using two-photon-initiated RAFT polymerization,” “Gone but not forgotten: Monomers for 3D printing of biodegradable bone scaffolds,” and “From Darkness to Base. The Breakthrough of Photobase Generators.”
From May 4th-9th,Theresa and Antonella represented the FBMC at this year’s conference for Advanced Polymers via Macromolecular engineering (AMPE 2025) in Catania, Sicily. Theresa presented gave an excellent talk on “Degradable Polyesters-a novel photopolymerization approach using ring-opening copolymerization” and Antonella presented a poster on “Exploring Photo-Induced Polymerization and Localized Degradation in Dynamic disulfide-Containing Hydrogels”. Next to impactful science, they enjoyed the beauty of Sicily and Italian Dolce Vita.
A small congregation of the FBMC took part in the Annual Meeting of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration, co-organized by our own Thomas Schmid and the group of Prof. Aleksandr Ovsianikov. Next to excellent scientific talks, Miriam and Antonella secured the “Best Presentation Young Investigator Award”. Thereby, the FBMC success road continues by securing every Young Investigator Award since 2022 (2022: Lisa Sinawehl, 2023: Antonella Fantoni, 2024: Danijela Bogdanovic). Congratulations!
On the Annual Meeting of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration, Antonella received the Best Presentation Award for her talk "Novel aliphatic photoinitiators"
Congratulations to Katharina Ehrmann. She received the prestigious Elise Richter Award for her proposal: "Orthogonal synthesis strategies for vat photopolymerization"
Lisa Sinawehl received the prestigious Ressel prize for her PhD thesis entiteled "Small molecules for the improvement of mechanical properties and degradation of photopolymers". Congratulations!!!!
Foto: (c) kusebauch
In September, some members of our group attended the first Young Polymer Researchers Austria Meeting (YPRA), which was held in the charming surroundings of Weiz, Styria.
Gratifyingly, Edma was awarded the Klaus Hummel Prize for the best oral presentation about her diploma thesis project. Congratulations!
In the beginning of July a congregation of the PCT group (left to right: Kathi, Klaus, Patrick, Michael, Kaja, Florian and Beni) ventured to Britain, attending the IUPAC Macro 2024, which was held at the University of Warwick. Interesting talks and posters from all over the world were inspiring food for new ideas and discussions. However, not only the scientific program was enriching, also the social activities including a visit to the Warwick Castle, a pubcrawl and pubquizes were highlights of this trip.
A small congregation of the FBMC attended the European Symposium of Photopolymer Science (ESPS) in the picturesque village Stresa, Italy. Carola, Antonella, Markus, Florian M., Kathi, Patrick and Robert gave excellent talks on our hottest photopolymer topics and presented wonderful posters. Carola was awarded the third place for her poster on photbase-catalyzed Oxa-Michael reactions. Congratulations!
We look forward to the ESPS 2026 in Vienna!
In June, Danijela, Tina, and Chrissie, accompanied by Stefan, travelled to the beautiful city of Utrecht to attend this year’s Conference for Advanced Functional Polymers for Medicine. The picturesque canals and historic charm of Utrecht provided a stunning backdrop for the event, which brought together researchers from around the world to share their latest advancements.
At the conference, the group’s research was presented through engaging poster presentations and pitch talks, and Stefan delivered an insightful talk about our exciting research. The event proved to be a great success, with Chrissie and Danijela receiving the Best Poster Award! It was an inspiring experience filled with cutting-edge science and valuable networking opportunities. Congratulations to all!
Antonella has been rewarded with the second place for her PhD Pitch entitled „Two-in-one biomaterials: exploring photo-induced polymerization and photodegradation of disulfide-based hydrogels“ hat the TCH Science Days 2024.
Danijela received the “Best Presentation Young Investigator Award” at the Annual Meeting of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration, presenting novel biodegradable biomaterials for 3D-printing. Congratulations!
Congratulations to Markus Kury. Is paper on regulated acrylate networks is one of the most downloaded work during 2023.
Danijela’s first publication about “Stereolithographic 3D printing of pure poly(ether–ester) networks from spirocyclic monomers via cationic ring-opening photopolymerization at high temperatures” has been published in “Polymer Chemistry”. This article is featured on the cover of the 42th Issue of Polymer Chemistry. Its also is included in the selection of most cited and downloaded Polymer Chemistry articles of 2023.Check it out: DOI https://doi.org/10.1039/D3PY00787A. Congrats to Danijela and Katharina Ehrmann!
Florian just published his first paper in JPS: "Group transfer polymerization in bulk methacrylates", Congratulations!!!!
Florian proved that aprotic monomers can be polymerized by group transfer polymerization in a highly controlled manner with polydispersities well below 1.2.
Congratulations to Antonella for her 3rd paper from the diploma work published in ACS Sustainable Chemsitry & Engineering!
She showed that epoxy based step growth polymer networks can have outstanding mechanical properties.
Congratulations to our Kathi for her Oral Presentation Award on the EPF "Dynamic Polymer Networks" Confernce in Bertinoro, Italy.
Congratulations to Antonella! At the Annual Meeting of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration Antonella received the „Best Presentation Young Investigator Award”
On the 25th of April, Kathi received for her PhD thesis entiteled "Development of thermoplastic elastomers for
cardiovascular tissue regeneration" the well recognized VICEM award. Congratulations!
Congratulations, Kathi!
This week Dr Katharina Ehrmann was chosen as a “CAS Future Leader 2023” by the Chemical American Society.
CAS annually selects young scientists who have the potential to become scientific leaders. They enable the Future Leaders Fellows’ participation in the ACS Fall Meeting (San Francisco, USA), one of the biggest US conferences in chemistry. Before that, all Fellows are invited to the CAS headquarter in Oregon to attend a leadership training and they get a unique glance behind the scenes of SciFinder-n, one of the leading science information tools in chemistry.
We like to welcome Kathi back at the institute after her succesfull stay at Christopher Barner Kowollik's lab at QUT, Australia. Highlights of her stay are:
- Invited lecture at UNSW about SLA-Printing
- Invited lecture at RACI Polymerbranch Queensland Symposium 3D-Printing
- PPC-Lecture
- Distinction from QUT: "significant external recognition"
Congratulations to Anna for her Poster with the title "Hydrogels based on Human Platelet Lysate" at the Austrian Chemistry Days
The Paper “Exploring the Limits of Toughness Enhancers for 3D Printed Photopolymers as Bone Replacement Materials.” has been accepted in “Journal of Polymer Science”. Congratulations to Barbara Dellago!!
Katharina Ehrmann received the “Christiane Hörbiger” Award for her Post Doc stay in Brisbane in the Labs of Christopher Barner-Kowollik, Congratulations!!!
The paper “Synthesis and Photochemical Investigation of Novel Tetraacylgermanes” has been accepted in “ChemPhotoChem”: Congratulations to Carola Haslinger!!
The Editorial Board of “Polymer Chemistry” selected the Paper “Photo-chemically induced polycondensation of a pure phenolic resin for additive manufacturing” as a “HOT Polymer Chemistry article”. Congratulations to Raffael Wolff.
Florian Mayer received the first Poster Award (out of 400 posters) for his contribution on low viscosity reactive diluents for 3D printing. The corresponding paper can be found here. Congratulations!!!
Lisa Sinawehl received the "Best presentation Young Investigator Award" at the "Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regneration" Cluster Meeting. Congratulations to her!!!!