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Two researchers from Atomki have been awarded the 2023 MTA Bolyai János Research Scholarship, which aims to encourage and recognise outstanding research and development achievements among young researchers and to help them prepare for the award of the title of Doctor of Sciences.

Zsuzsa Lisztes-Szabó (Institute of Nuclear Research) has previously focused her research on the middle part of the last 10,000 years, the so-called Middle Holocene period. The climate was relatively stable at that time, free of marked oscillations.

To predict future changes, it is crucial to understand how the climate in the Carpathian Basin evolved during the warmer Holocene, how the periods of rainfall and drought changed, and how this affected the way of life of the people living in the region.

The research project will investigate this by identifying and measuring samples’ elemental composition and isotope ratios from buried soils, glacial lakes, marsh sediments and archaeological finds, including plant remains embedded in human and animal dental calculus. Read more about Zsuzsa Lisztes-Szabó’s research here.

István Major (Institute of Nuclear Research) is developing methods for measurements with different mass spectrometers in the fellowship programme framework, aiming to improve sampling, sample processing and measurement accuracy for more reliable results.

One of the main lines of research is to find out how to purify samples of already preserved (i.e. contaminated with modern material) paleontological or archaeological finds, in particular bones, to be suitable for isotopic analysis. The isotopic composition of different chemical elements can provide helpful information on the diet and migration of ancient humans and animals. Read more about István Major’s research here.

The young researchers who submitted winning proposals in 2023 will be awarded their Bolyai Fellowship certificates on Bolyai Day in September.

For a list of other award winners, click here.

Source: dehir.hu