The bursary scheme, the brainchild of V. Krishnakumar of consultancy Giract, was announced in June last year as a way to support new researchers in flavours. According to Professor Andy Taylor of the University of Nottingham in the UK, flavour as a subject area is in decline because researchers who were leaders in the field are now at retirement age, and there are not enough new people coming in.
Sponsorship from nine companies with business activities in or relating to flavours: DSM Food Specialities, Frutarom, Givaudan, IFF, Kerry Ingredients, Kikkoman, Lesaffre International, Nestle and Unilever.
Bursaries have been awarded to the following first year PhD students:
Lauriane Boisard, CSGA, Dijon, France
Kevin Deegan, Helsinki University, Finland
Dody Handoko, Reading University, UK
Juliane Mattes, DiFE, Potsdam, Germany
May Ng, Nottingham University, UK
Maiken Thomsen, INRA, Dijon, France
Alicia Hambleton of Bourgogne University, France, also received the award for the Best Final PhD Thesis.