“The innovations of today are the foundation for the successes of tomorrow” - this was the motto of the 31st Upper Austrian Federal State Prize for Innovation. A jury selected the best projects from a total of 88 submissions.

The prize for the most innovative research institution went to the JKU. The “Synthetic Bone” project, which was developed in cooperation between the JKU's Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (Ian Teasdale, Stephan Haudum) and the Faculty of Medicine (Eleni Priglinger, Laura Müller-Müchler), was the winner.

“There are millions of patients worldwide with non-healing bone fractures. They suffer from restricted mobility and chronic pain. So far, there is no suitable material that can effectively support healing. We have developed new biodegradable materials consisting of basic bone building blocks. They are inexpensive and can be processed using 3D printing,” explains Priglinger. It has already been shown in the laboratory that these materials actually form new bone with the aid of stem cells. Initial clinical studies are already being planned.

About her BIOGRAPHY and the CITIZEN AWARD

Priv. Doz. Dr. Yolanda Salinas has recently published her own biography.

Vicente Sola Moya, an honorable retired professor with an excellent teaching career as well as a local book writer, was so deeply impressed by the life story and the professional career of Yolanda Salinas, his former school student, that he decided to turn it into a book (which Yolanda Salinas is as well co-author). This remarkable initiative, supported by Alfafar Town Council, aims to inspire future generations, especially women and girls, to explore the fascinating world of science and to motivate them into STEM subjects. The author commented that through effort, perseverance, giving herself opportunities to face not easy obstacles that refused to be overcome, Yolanda managed to make her academic dreams come true. He also commented that given her youth, she is certainly open to a bright and promising future. The Major of her town dedicated some special words within the introduction of the book: This book should also serve to reflect and try to change the individualistic model of society that we have and focus more on working for the common good, on the one hand, the family supporting the children / students and, teachers, to focus not only on teacher education, but go further and discover the talents they have and to emphasize that the main thing is not only the titles, In this sense, I believe that Alfafar and Vicente Sala, as well as many of his colleagues, can also be considered a success story, as they contribute to the training of people every day who will transform and improve society. I, Juan Ramón Adsuara, would like to congratulate the author for this work that we have in our hands, as well as the brilliant mind that is Yolanda Salinas. I hope that this book reaches secondary schools and colleges, so that it can serve as an example to the young people of Alfafar and provide us with many more success stories.The presentation of Yolanda´s Biography (titled Efforts+Constancy=Success) took place last 6th March (for Women Day) in the Plenary Hall of the Alfafar´s Town Hall, Valencia, Spain. There, Priv.-Doz. Dr. Yolanda Salinas gave a first-hand account of her young but long research career along different countries, from Spain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, London to finally Austria, where she did her habilitation in Polymers and Materials Chemistry, here at the JKU, within the Institute of Polymer Chemistry, in October 2021. This initiative had a noble cause: All proceeds go to the fight against cancer (all the donations from books sale are for Cancer researching Spanish Associations! The whole town where Yolanda was born is very proud of her career and her success, so on the same day the Major invited her to sign in the Honorary Book of this Valencian Town hall, and sitting at the Major's chair, Yolanda commented that she felt so proud and thankful for such an amazing honor.

Moreover, her city awarded her on the 19th of April with the Citizen Award 2024, a recognition to her whole career path and for being a reference for the younger generations.