The exciting and very practical results and discoveries that postdoc Ulrik Kræmer Sundekilde from Aarhus University has made in his recently completed PhD study have not gone unnoticed – quite the opposite. He has been awarded the prize ”Danish Young NMR Researcher Prize 2013” from Danish Instrument Center for NMR spectroscopy of Biological Macromolecules in recognition of his work and his potential. The prize was presented at Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen on 31 May 2013.

- I was both delighted and surprised when I heard that I had received the prize, says 30-year-old Ulrik Kræmer Sundekilde and continues:

- The prize is typically given to physicists, chemists or other scientists who work with NMR at a very high level in basic research and rarely to an area of applied science such as mine.

Justification for the award

Ulrik Sundekilde has been using the NMR technology in metabonomics to look for connections between metabolites and a number of properties of milk. Using this technique he has, among other things, discovered that the substance choline can be used as a biomarker for the coagulation ability of cheese milk and that the content of some healthy carbohydrates in milk is very cow-specific. Both these findings can potentially be used to breed cows with characteristics tailored for the specific uses of their milk.

- A prize like this is a great boost to your CV. Employers look not only at how many publications you have. It is also good to show that you have achieved prizes and recognition, says Ulrik Kræmer Sundekilde who is continuing to work with NMR for analysing carbohydrates at AU Aarslev.

Read the article ”Milk’s many miracles” about Ulrik Kræmer Sundekilde’s PhD here.

Further information: Postdoc Ulrik Kræmer Sundekilde, Department of Food Science, e-mail: ulrikk.sundekilde@agrsci.dk, telephone: +45 8715 4882