Royal DSM, the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company, announced Professor Hans Stein as the winner of the DSM Nutritional Sciences Award 2015.

The DSM Nutritional Sciences Award is granted in recognition of outstanding contributions to innovative research in the field of human and animal nutrition by established scientists anywhere in the world.

In the field of animal nutrition, the award is granted to scientific work that has significantly contributed to improving animal nutrition and health through innovative concepts and more sustainable animal farming. The theme for the 2015 award was Optimum Swine Nutrition for Sustainable Food Production.

Professor Stein's reaction to receiving the award was enthusiastic: “I'm honoured to receive such an award! And I'm excited about the potential that all our future research and future scientists have in regard to sustainable food production and all aspects of animal nutrition.”

An international judging committee, chaired by Dr Georg Kau, Vice President Research & Development at DSM Nutritional Products, selected Professor Stein from the candidates proposed via a public call for nominations.

Professor Stein received the award, including a cash prize of €50,000, from Dr Kau at the 13th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs, Kliczków, Poland, on 19 May.

Professor Stein impressed the judges with his broad understanding of animal nutrition, the pig industry, and the challenges of producing food for the growing world population.

In particular, his research towards accurately determining amino acid requirements and optimising calcium/phosphorous supply for growing pigs helps reduce the excretion of undigested feed components (which are potentially harmful to the environment), and thus greatly contributes to the improvement of sustainable swine farming.

He is also an inspiring teacher, who has trained a great number of next generation scientists and he enjoys a high reputation and respect among his peers across the globe.

DSM’s Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Marcel Wubbolts, said: “The amount of arable land per capita is decreasing, whereas rising standards of living tend to coincide with a shift of diets to higher protein consumption.

"If this increase in animal protein production is not managed in a sustainable way, this increase can take a serious toll on the environment.

"This means that availability of and access to good quality nutrition – one of the cornerstones of good health – is going to be critical and so will be the need for ongoing innovations that can enhance effectiveness, animal wellbeing and environmental sustainability of livestock farming.

"The issue of sustainability is an ever pertinent one, and research, such as that of Professor Stein, is paving the way for sustainability, not only in terms of current research, but also teaching, and helping next generation scientists to flourish in this field.”