Helmuth-Burckhardt Prize 2025
The 2025 Helmuth Burckhardt Prize from the Association of Raw Materials and Mining (VRB) was awarded to Jan Niklas Bender, M.Sc. The umbrella organisation for the German mining industry presented the young academic with the prize at its general meeting on 29 October 2025 in Berlin/Germany. The Helmuth Burckhardt Prize has been awarded annually since 1971 for outstanding examination results in the master’s degree in raw materials engineering or the state examination. The award is intended to enable the winner to gain further insights into mining abroad as part of a study trip.
Jan Niklas Bender completed his master’s degree in raw materials engineering (specialising in mining and sustainable raw materials extraction) at RWTH Aachen University, Aachen/Germany, with a grade of “very good”. His master’s thesis dealt with the “Dynamic simulation of processing plants in the stone and earth industry – development of a modular simulation basis for typical processing processes using MATLAB and Simulink”. It should be noted that Bender also gained experience abroad in the mining country of Australia during his standard period of study. In addition, his numerous voluntary commitments in the operations department of the Herzogenrath volunteer fire brigade, as a representative in the mining student council, as a representative of the master’s programme in raw materials engineering, as a representative for teaching and university communication, as a member of the examination board and the faculty’s advisory board, organising excursions and events, and as a contact person for students are also worth mentioning. Bender has also received numerous awards, such as the Carl Hellmut Fritzsche Prize, Dean’s Listing and Springorum Denkmünze, and has also published various papers. He is currently a working student at the Institute of Mineral Resources Engineering at RWTH Aachen University and is working on the AMoKI research project.
The VRB selection committee chose him as this year’s award winner based on his excellent degree results within the standard period of study, his focused international experience with different areas of emphasis, and his diversified areas of study (academic, scientific and work experience). He also impressed the committee with his diverse voluntary work. (VRB/MRG)
