Best Poster Award for MCI at the Research Forum in Graz

Luise Ebert convinced the audience with her pitch on the biosynthesis of hydrogen

In mid-April, the Research Forum of Universities of Applied Sciences (FFH Forum 2026) took place in Graz. Under the slogan “Smart Science – Better Business,” the forum brought together the core strengths of Austria’s universities of applied sciences: application-oriented research and solution-oriented thinking aimed at strengthening the economy and industry.

At scientific conferences, in addition to numerous presentations in thematic sessions, research work is typically displayed in the form of scientific posters and recognized with a “Best Poster Award” to honor particularly outstanding research. This provides an incentive to present scientific findings in a way that is both substantively rigorous and visually appealing, so that complex concepts can be conveyed at a glance.

Luise Ebert, a master’s student in the Biotechnology program at MCI and a project team member on the “BIOcubed” project, impressed the judges with her poster on the biosynthesis of hydrogen, both in the preliminary round and with her pitch during the round featuring the five best posters. With a presentation that was both well-founded and charming, she won by a wide margin in the audience vote. But the topic of her study on the biological production of hydrogen likely contributed to her success as well: it represents a promising approach to substituting fossil fuels and is becoming increasingly important against the backdrop of geopolitical instability and legally mandated climate goals.

The “BIOcubed” project (Biosynthesis of Green Hydrogen and Biomass Valorisation) investigates sustainable hydrogen production from organic waste and, for the first time, taps into the biotechnological potential of the thermophilic bacterium Thermoactinomyces mirandus, which was recently discovered in Tyrol. T. mirandus is the first anaerobic member of its genus and possesses thermotolerant [NiFe] hydrogenases, which are considered promising, platinum-free biocatalysts. It is known that it can produce hydrogen from lactose via dark fermentation.

Initial results show that hydrogen yield can be increased by varying carbon and nitrogen sources and that organic waste can be used as a substrate. The combination of optimizing dark fermentation, utilizing organic waste, employing co-culture strategies, and developing a two-stage fermentation process for the parallel production of hydrogen and methane is novel in this form. In addition, the analysis of the enzymes involved opens up new possibilities for future biocatalytic processes. The goal is to establish a robust foundation for future scaling and to contribute to strengthening the circular economy through the valorization of biomass.