Pakistani scientist receives Green Talent Award 2017 in Berlin

BERLIN: A Pakistani scientist, Dr Kashif Rasool, received the Green Talent Award 2017 in Berlin, in a competition which attracted 602 applicants from over 95 countries.

Rasool's research seeks to provide a solution for advanced sustainable and economical water treatment.

A high-ranking jury of experts selected the most outstanding green visionaries, who came from an impressively wide range of academic research areas with diverse achievements.

The jury was particularly encouraged by the potential of Rasool's research to deal with one of the world’s most pressing concerns: water security. 

The reuse of water for applications, instead of using freshwater supplies, is currently considered as the most critical element of sustainable water management globally.

Rasool has a pending patent application and has thus demonstrated promise from his research. 

The 33-years-old Pakistani scientist's research focuses on environmental and energy engineering and biological wastewater treatment in aerobic and anaerobic processes. 

Dr Rasool has taken on two of the world’s most pressing environmental concerns; water contamination and water security. His work focuses on developing innovative methods for extracting contaminants from industrial wastewater, in order for it to be safely and sustainably returned to freshwater supply.

He is focusing on the biological removal of organic, heavy metal, nutrient and emerging micro-pollutants from a variety of wastewater streams, coupled with renewable bio-energy production.

On Friday, in a festive award ceremony of the ninth “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development” 25 Green talents from all over the world were honoured by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Berlin. 

Matthias Graf von Kielmansegg, General Director of policy issues, strategy and digital transformation at the BMBF, honoured 25 scientists from 21 countries.

The green visionaries, from 21 countries, were on a two-week tour in Germany, where leading scientists met Germany's sustainability researchers.

For the first time Egypt, Fiji, Iraq, Slovakia, Sweden, and Uganda are among the Green Talent winner countries. 

The awardees were also invited to participate in a two-week science forum, during which they visited top locations for sustainability research in Germany.

“I am deeply impressed by the scientific expertise and strong motivation of this year ́s 25 Green Talents. Their research is clearly making a contribution to tackling global challenges and I am glad that they will become part of the German research landscape," said Falko Leukhardt from the German Council for Sustainable Development.

The young researchers also learned about state-of-the-art approaches and technologies and exchanged ideas with leading experts in individual meetings thereby obtaining a deep insight into Germany’s innovation system and discovering new opportunities for prospective collaborations. Their efforts are supported by the invitation to return to Germany in 2018 for a fully funded research stay at an institution of their choice.