After the annual private hustle and bustle at the turn of the year had been overcome and the individual faculties had gradually awoken from their two-week hibernation, the new year 2026 was traditionally rung in on Sunday, 18 January with the Paderborn University's New Year's Reception. In addition to musical entertainment from the university orchestra and speeches on the festive occasion and the relevance of Paderborn University and Bielefeld University for the OWL region, around 400 guests were given a brief insight into various fields of research at the university.
In addition to the Paderborn University 2025 Research Prize and prizes from the Presidential Board for outstanding doctoral dissertations, prizes were awarded by the Universitätsgesellschaft e.V. for outstanding theses. At the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Mr Paul Steinmeier's thesis, which was written by the (then) Master's student at the Chair of Materials Science, was honoured. In his thesis, Mr. Steinmeier investigated whether hip prostheses can be made more durable and antibacterial at the same time by 3D printing a special titanium-copper alloy. The results show that this approach is feasible and has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life of many people in the future.
The Chair of Materials Science would like to congratulate Mr. Steinmeier on this special award and wishes him every success with his next project - his doctoral dissertation.
[26.01.2026]
