Excellent performance: Styrian high school graduates receive awards for final papers

Catherine Walter-Laager, Vice-Rector for Studies and Teaching (left), and local councillor Barbara Gartner-Hofbauer (right) with the winners of the JuniorAcademic and the SPRADI Prizes. Emma Jandrasits was unable to attend. Photo: University of Graz / Pichler

Careful research, structured compilation of the information gathered, and perseverance in writing while adhering to academic standards: a written "Abschließende Arbeit" (ABA) – formerly known as "Vorwissenschaftliche Arbeit" (VWA) – demands a great deal from AHS students. The Styrian high school graduates who had written the best papers this year were awarded the "Dr. Hans Riegel-Fachpreise", the JuniorAcademic Prizes and the SPRADI Prize at the University of Graz in September 2025.

In order to promote interest in science and research among the younger generation, the Kaiserschild Charitable Foundation awards the “Dr. Hans Riegel-Fachpreise” each year to high school students who have written outstanding final papers in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics. The three best students in each of these natural science subjects receive awards. As there were no submissions in mathematics this year, a total of twelve prizes worth 4,800 euros were awarded on 17 September. In addition, vouchers worth 250 euros each were awarded to the schools of the award winners to finance materials for science lessons.

The JuniorAcademic and SPRADI Prizes, awarded by the University of Graz, focus on the humanities and cultural sciences. They recognise high school graduates for excellent papers in history, philosophy/psychology, German, music or a foreign language subject. The SPRADI Prize is awarded for an outstanding ABA written in a modern foreign language. Five students were honoured on 23 September. They and their schools received book vouchers worth a total of 2,700 euros, 300 euros of which were sponsored by the Austrian National Union of Students (ÖH). The aim is to further promote interest in topics from the humanities and cultural sciences.

The competition and the award ceremony are organised by KinderUniGraz, a cooperation between the universities in Graz.

The award winners 2025

Dr. Hans Riegel-Fachpreise

Biology

1. Emilia Christin Mariacher, Chronischer Stress (BORG Birkfeld)

2. Paula Papak, The plant microbiomes composition, function and implications for human health shown by the example of olives (BG/BRG Seebachergasse)

3. Tristan Galler, Die Wahrheit über Ascorbinsäure (Stiftsgymnasium Admont)

Chemistry

1. Theresa Filzmaier, Lumineszenz – das Leuchten der Natur (BORG Deutschlandsberg)

2. Emma Walitsch, Das Phänomen der Isomerie am Beispiel der Stoffeigenschaften von (R)-Carvon und (S)-Carvon (BG/BRG Fürstenfeld)

3. David Zwigl, Neue Katalysatormaterialien zur CO2-Umwandlung in nachhaltige Energieträger (Europagymnasium Leoben)

Computer science

1. Sarah Romaner, Schulsysteme im Vergleich: Wie hängen Leistung und Schulsystem zusammen? (BG/BRG Lichtenfels)

2. Rafael Luber, Kombinatorische Spieltheorie am Beispiel des Brettspiels Abalone (BG/BRG Carnerigasse)

3. Philipp Kreuzer, Usage and advantages of (purely) functional programming languages (BRG Petersgasse)

Physics

1. Milo Giuliani, Bau eines Spektrographen und Entwicklung von dazugehöriger Software (BRG Petersgasse)

2. Fritz Schumacher, Magnetohydrodynamischer Antrieb (Akademisches Gymnasium Graz)

3. Anna Hesse, Under the Spell of the Solar Wind the Correlation between Solar Winds, Climate and Technology (Akademisches Gymnasium Graz)

JuniorAcademic Prize

Foreign Languages

Emma Jandrasits, Il sessismo nella lingua italiana con riferimento all'uso di titoli e cariche professionali (BRG Petersgasse)

History

Florian Lackner, Wie 102 Minuten die Welt veränderten – Die mediale Berichterstattung des Terrorattentats 9/11 (Stiftsgymnasium Admont)

Philosophy/Psychology

Caspar Noah Moebius, Die feinen Unterschiede im Sport – Der Zusammenhang zwischen Gesellschaftsstruktur und Sportpraktiken (Akademisches Gymnasium Graz)

JuniorAcademic Recognition Prize

Lejla Schoas, The Importance of Art throughout History, and the moral Ambiguity of AI, History (Altes Gymnasium Leoben)

SPRADI Prize

Tiana Mavriqi, Fact or Fiction? Birthed by Design: The CRISPR-Cas9 Revolution, Unraveling Truths and Challenging Myths about Human Genetic Enhancement (BG/BRG Seebacher Graz)

The University of Graz offers support to high school students in writing their ABA. University students pass on their experience to them. Learn more

The winners of the "Dr. Hans Riegel-Fachpreise" 2025

Gudrun Pichler

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