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8th – 10th of April 2026 in Graz, Austria

The Austrian Food Chemistry Days 2026 were successfully organised and run by the food chemists of our institute from April 8 to April 10, 2026. Approximately 90 food scientists mainly coming from Austria, but also from aboard, came to TU Graz to join us for three days filled with exciting talks on various aspects of food science.  We would like to thank all attendees for the lectures and poster contributions, for inspiring discussions and for joining us not only in research but also at the “Bierführung”  @Sudhaus Graz followed by the conference dinner and the guided tour through the historic centre of Graz.

In the course of the conference, several young researchers were awarded for their outstanding scientific contributions, among them Elise Hecht who was awarded for the Best Poster of the conference! Congrats, Elise!

Thank you to the colleagues from GÖCH for the cooperation during the organisation, thank you to all our sponsoring companies for their generous support and thank you to the members of the ACFC food group for making this event possible!

The next Austrian Food Chemistry Days will take place in Vienna in April 2028 – see you there!

29th of March – 01st of April 2026 in Jena, Germany

At the end of March, five members of the Optical Sensors Group attended the 22nd Europtrode, which took place in Jena, the City of Light, from March 29 to April 1. During the poster session, Matthias Schwar and Torsten Mayr presented the latest results of our work on Ratiometric pH Sensors and Optical Sensors for Organ-on-Chips. Lisa Eiber (“Multi-Resonance Emitters: New Indicator Dyes for Self-Referenced Ratiometric Optical Sensing”), Theresa Mautz (“Sensing Oxygen in Organic Solvents with Surface-Anchored Metal-Organic Frameworks”) and their supervisor Sergey Borsiov (“Low-cost CMOS-based System for Luminescence Lifetime Imaging of Oxygen, Temperature, and pH”) all had the great opportunity to present their work in form of a short talk to the optical sensor community.

It was a great pleasure to meet old friends from various research groups who are also working on (optical) sensors and to make new connections. A big thank you goes out to the organizers, who did a fantastic job preparing for the event.

In tiefer Trauer...

Mit tiefer Trauer und Bestürzung haben wir vom Tod unseres geschätzten Kollegen ao. Univ. Prof. DI Dr. techn. Ernst Lankmayr erfahren. Ernst ist am 6. Februar 2026 nach langer und schwerer Krankheit verstorben.  

Ernst studierte Technische Chemie an der TU Graz promovierte 1979 zum Doktor der Technischen Wissenschaften am damaligen Institut für Analytische Chemie, Mikro- und Radiochemie der TU Graz. 1985 wurde ihm die Lehrbefugnis für das Fach Analytische Chemie verliehen. 1997 wurde er zum außerordentlichen Universitätsprofessor ernannt. Neben seinen Forschungsaktivitäten mit Schwerpunkt im Bereich der Chromatographie war ihm eine fundierte analytische Ausbildung der Studierenden ein großes Anliegen. 2015 trat er in den Ruhestand, blieb dem Institut jedoch auch danach eng verbunden. 

Wir verlieren mit Ernst einen hochgeschätzten und engagierten Kollegen. Mit seiner positiven, fröhlichen und wertschätzenden Art werden wir ihn in sehr guter Erinnerung behalten. 

Unnser aufrichtiges Beileid und tiefes Mitgefühl gelten seiner Familie.

20th of July – 26th of July 2025 in León, Spain

Two members of the Optical Sensors group – Theresa Mautz and Lisa Eiber – took part in this year’s ASCOS, held in León, in the north of Spain.The summer school featured theory sessions on a wide range of topics relevant to optical sensing, including luminescence, biosensors, microfluidics, optical fibers, and photonics. These lectures were delivered by renowned researchers from around the world. To give participants the chance to put theory into practice, the organizers assigned group projects at the start of the program. Each team, made up of five to six students, was tasked with tackling a current hot-topic problem from science or industry using optical sensors. They had five days to develop a solution and present their results to the tutors on the final day.After all presentations, the committee selected the team with the most innovative and effective solution. The winners received a 400 CHF prize and free registration for next year’s Europt(r)ode conference in Jena, Germany. We are delighted to share that Lisa’s team won the competition – congratulations, Lisa! We look forward to seeing her represent us in Jena next spring.

Of course, ASCOS wasn’t only about science – it was also about building connections and friendships across the globe. The organizers did a fantastic job of showcasing León with a city-wide scavenger hunt and introducing us to the stunning mountains of northern Spain during a trip to the famous Valporquero caves.

We warmly congratulate Helmar Wiltsche on the successful completion of his trial lecture as part of his habilitation on June 18, 2025, at TU Graz. His presentation on "Fundamentals of Photometry" was both insightful and engaging, showcasing his deep expertise and commitment to academic excellence.

We wish him continued success in his scientific and teaching career and look forward to his future contributions to the field of analytical chemistry.

March 2025, Leipzig, Germany

In March 2025, Erich Leitner, Andrea Hochegger and Elise Hecht attended the ANAKON, which took place at Leipzig University.

In her talk on “Post-Consumer Recycled Plastics in Food Contact Applications: Characterization and Safety Assessment”, Andrea Hochegger discussed the complex task of analyzing recycled plastics and presented first results from the research project “Aurelia”. More interesting details on the topic were addressed in the poster “Investigation of Contaminants in PCR-Plastics using GC-based Techniques” presented by Elise Hecht.

Erich Leitner gave interesting insights into the aroma profile of various gins and tonic waters in his presentation “Science Meets Sensation: Unveiling the Chemistry of G & T”, which was followed by a tasting session.

Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry (EWCPS) in Berlin 2025, Germany

Dr. Helmar Wiltsche and Christina Mühlthaler recently attended the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry (EWCPS) in Berlin in early march 2025.

Helmar Wiltsche delivered an engaging talk on "Mechanistic insights in the interaction of microwave radiation with mineral acids – implications for microwave-assisted sample digestion." His presentation provided valuable perspectives on the fundamental processes underlying microwave-assisted digestion and their impact on analytical workflows.

Christina Mühlthaler presented a poster on "Optimization of sample preparation for ICP-MS and ICP-OES analysis of alcoholic beverages: Application of high-pressure flow digestion to reduce matrix effects." Her research focuses on improving sample preparation techniques to enhance the accuracy and reliability of elemental analysis in high-proof alcoholic beverages.

Both contributions highlighted the ongoing advancements in analytical chemistry and showcased innovative approaches to sample digestion and elemental analysis.

The Food Chemistry group had a booth at the “Lange Nacht der Forschung 2024”. Visitors could experience sensory perception – how we perceive odour and taste, how our sensory perception is impacted by colour or by taste enhancers. We were completely overwhelmed by the enormous response! Samples were prepared for approx. 450 visitors and we were out of stock after five hours. Thank you to the whole crew who did an amazing job, thank you to the organizers and thank you to all the visitors who were interested in our research!

We are glad to pronounce, that our institute, in particular Prof. Erich Leitner, got one of two professorships endowed by the Graz University of Technology and Mondi Group. The professorship targets the research of Food Contact Materials as well as the trainig of young talents in business and science. 

Double Prizes for ACFC at DocDays 2025!

Lara Skef and Andreas Matijevic Win Best Poster and Best Talk Awards

At this year's DocDays, hosted by the chemistry faculties of TU and KFU, PhD students showcased their latest research. The ACFC group had reason to celebrate as two of its members were honored with top awards: 

Lara Skef received the Best Poster Award (sponsored by LamResearch), while Andreas Matijevic took home the Best Scientific Talk Award (sponsored by Anton Paar). 

Lara's poster, titled "New European Regulation for Bisphenols Posing Analytical Challenges", focused on her PhD research, which involves developing a GC-MS/MS analytical method for detecting bisphenols. Her work aims to meet limits of quantifications and compliance with regulatory standards. 

Andi impressed the audience with his talk, "Advancing Optical Ammonia Sensors: Design, Development and Performance", presenting his progress on creating optical sensors for detecting ammonia in both environmental and biotechnological contexts. His sensors utilize azaBODIPY dyes to achieve sensitive detection in the ppb range. 

Congratulations to both Lara and Andi on their well-earned recognition!

Niklas Pontesegger was selected as Best PhD Thesis Award Winner, 15th Edition 2024/2025 of the GIRACT European PhD in Flavor Research Programme

Niklas had the chance to present his work entitled “The Impact of Climate Change on Domestic Apple Varieties” at the 29^th Giract Savory Flavor & Food Industry Conference which took place in  Divonnes-les-Baines, France on March 20-21, 2025. Congratulations, Nik, on this prestigious flavour award!

Josef Krainer Förderungspreis 2025 goes to Andreas Russegger

Andreas Russegger was awarded with the “Josef Krainer Förderungspreis 2025” for his PhD thesis entitled  “Design and characterization of thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials for optical temperature sensing”. The award ceremony took place in the “Alte Universität Graz” on March 17, 2025. Congrats, Andi, on this achievement - well deserved!

Theresa Mautz awarded Outstanding Master's Thesis Award

On June 20th, 2024 the Faculty of Technical Chemistry, Chemical and Process Engineering, and Biotechnology honoured exceptional Master's theses and research excellence. Theresa Mautz, under the supervision of Sergey Borisov, received a prestigious cash award of €1.000 for her master's thesis "Surface-Anchored Metal-Organic Frameworks for Optical Sensing of Molecular Oxygen". This recognition highlights her remarkable dedication, scientific independence, creativity, and outstanding contributions to research. 

Theresa's work stands as an inspiration for younger students and fosters the spirit of innovation and excellence for future research. Congratulation, Theresa, on this well-deserved achievement!

Two Prizes at the Austrian Food Chemistry Days

The Austrian Food Chemistry Days took place in Vienna from April 3rd to April 5th. The "Food Chemistry" working group was well represented with various posters and presentations. This conference ended very successfully for two of our researchers: Andrea Hochegger was awarded the P.B. Czedik-Eysenberg Award with her paper on the Combination of multidimensional instrumental analysis and the Ames test for the toxicological evaluation of mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons. Sabrina Stranig won the prize for the best oral presentation about the odour active volatiles in “lupin-coffee” and their formation and analysis. Congratulations to Andrea and Sabrina!

Sabrina Stranig awarded with the WKO Forschungsstipendium for her master thesis on the flavour formation in ‘lupin-coffee’

Sabrina Stranig’s master thesis on the flavour formation during the roasting process of lupin seed was awarded with the “WKO Forschungsstipendium 2023”. This work was conducted in close cooperation with Johann Krois/Steirerkaffee who cultivated the lupins seeds close to Graz. Using Johann’s professional coffee roaster, Sabrina had the opportunity to perform those roasting experiments that were required for this work. The results of this work give insight into the complex chemistry of the flavour of the sustainable coffee-alternative. Congrats, Sabrina!

A short video on Sabrina’s work together with those of other awarded TU colleagues can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbFSt7rEZ-A

Andrea Hochegger wins Special Award "Tech for Green" 2022 for innovative dissertation

Andrea Hochegger was received the Special Award "Tech for Green" 2022, presented as part of the Women's Award for Digitalization and innovation by ORF and Infineon Technologies Austria. The award recognizes her dissertation, titled "Packaging Related Food Safety Aspects - Analytical Contributions to the Characterization of Food and Food Contact Materials", for its innovative approach to addressing food safety and challenges in food packaging. 
 

Find more information here 

Summer School 2024 "Food Science and Culinary Arts - from Field to Meal"
June 30th- July13th 2024 at Penn State University, USA

In summer 2024, five students from TU Graz—Christina Mühlthaler, Lisa Eiber, Niklas Pontesegger, Lara Stef, and Markus Windisch—participated in a two-week summer school at Penn State University, USA.

The program began in Washington, D.C., where they joined students from Penn State, Fresno University, and the University of Arkansas. The agenda included sightseeing highlights such as the Capitol, museum visits, and a social "come together" event. A visit to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided additional insights into the U.S. regulatory landscape.

The group also had the opportunity to visit Restek, a company renowned for its expertise in analytical chemistry, where they gained valuable insights into the application of scientific analysis in the industry.

Next, the group traveled to the Hershey Company, exploring the Technical Center and enjoying time at Hersheypark. The focus then shifted to Penn State University, where the theme revolved around chocolate—“from the bean to the bar.” The students crafted their own chocolate and ice cream while performing various sensory analyses, such as tasting and aroma evaluations.

The Austrian participants also got a taste of American student life, including celebrating the Fourth of July (Independence Day).

This summer school provided not only a cultural exchange but also academic enrichment, particularly in understanding differences between chemical analysis techniques in the USA and Europe. The program was a memorable experience that combined education, culture, and new perspectives.

In 2025, the summer school will be held in Austria from July 6 to July 18, 2025. More information and details for registration will follow.