This year, the Heinrich Schubert Prize, awarded by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering and Energy Engineering at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, went to Dr Vasyl Skorych from TU Hamburg. The prize, which is open to candidates from across the German-speaking world, is awarded annually for outstanding early-career research in mechanical process engineering, mineral processing or recycling.
Dr Vasyl Skorych received the prize for his doctoral thesis on the topic ‘Dynamic Flowsheet Simulation of Interconnected Solids Processes’. In it, he focused on the development of the flowsheet simulation software Dyssol, a general-purpose framework for the dynamic simulation of complex solid-state processes. “The framework fills a previously existing scientific gap by efficiently and numerically stably simulating multidimensionally distributed particle properties such as size, porosity or moisture content in realistic, highly coupled process chains. With Dyssol, the thesis establishes a new methodological foundation for the analysis and optimisation of industrial solid-state processes,” stated the jury at the award ceremony.
The thesis was awarded a distinction by the Technical University of Hamburg on the basis of its scientific quality, high degree of innovation and methodological depth. The doctoral thesis also led to the successful launch of the start-up company DyssolTEC.
Heinrich Schubert Prize for Early-Career Researchers
Since 2019, the prize has been awarded annually to undergraduates and PhD students for outstanding early-career research in mechanical process engineering, mineral processing or recycling. During the ‘Processing and Recycling 2026’ conference, Prof. Henning Zeidler presented the award, thereby honouring the legacy of the former holder of the Professorship, Heinrich Schubert.
Professor Heinrich Schubert (1926–2018) made outstanding contributions to the fields of mechanical process engineering and mineral processing both in Germany and abroad. The prize named after him honours individuals who have demonstrated excellence in mechanical process engineering, mineral processing or recycling as part of a final-year undergraduate dissertation or a PhD thesis. The award ceremony, at which a certificate, the Heinrich Schubert Medal and prize money of 500 euros were presented, took place as part of the annual ‘Mineral Processing and Recycling’ conference. The prize money for 2026 was donated by the Mineral Processing Section of the Association of Friends and Supporters of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg.
