Dr Marta Sylla with the MEN scholarship for outstanding young scientists

The scholarship is awarded to young scientists conducting innovative, high-quality scientific research and having impressive scientific achievements with an international flavour. Winners receive a scholarship of PLN 5,390 per month for 3 years.

In this year's edition, there were as many as 1,828 applications for the scholarship, and only 230 winners. In order to obtain the scholarship of the Minister of Education and Science you must have the status of a young scientist, i.e. be a doctoral student or academic teacher, with or without a doctorate, obtained no more than seven years ago. Dr Marta Sylla received the award in the field of social sciences social sciences, in the discipline of socio-economic geography and spatial management, as one of five people in this discipline in Poland.

She was recognised for authoring high-scoring scientific publications,leading a highly innovative research project, practical application of research results and completing  internships abroad in highly prestigious centres.

Dr Marta Sylla's research interests include ecosystem services in geographical and economic contexts and short food supply chains. Ecosystem services are in other words the benefits that people derive from the environment. Dr Sylla is concerned with analysing their delivery potential and valuing the environment. Examples of such services are, for example, water retention, lowering urban temperatures, or the uptake and storage of carbon by ecosystems.

– Research on ecosystem services is important because it is a reference point for the Green Deal policy or the Sustainable Development Goals – emphasises Dr Sylla, who has just completed her project on ecosystem services and benefits in the context of environmental-economic accounts as part of the PRELUDIUM programme funded by the National Science Centre.

The young scientist is also involved together with Dr Małgorzata Świąder in the FoodSHIFT2030 project. This project includes community and school gardens that have been established in Wrocław in recent years, the creation of a map of plots of land that could be used for the establishment of such gardens, and a social movement that promotes such solutions. Dr Marta Sylla and Dr Małgorzata Świąder also analysed the potential capacity of local food systems to provide a dietary supply of a plant based diet for selected European cities, including Wrocław.

When asked about the scholarship, she admits that she would like to use it for further scientific development and says: – I’m very happy to have received this award. It is prestigious due to the fact that relatively few people in the discipline receive it. It is also a success for the Institute of Spatial Management and an appreciation of the discipline of socio-economic geography and spatial management at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. It is also a great start for our new Faculty of Spatial Management and Landscape Architecture. I believe that there are many outstanding young scientists here and I really encourage you to apply for this award. It is not easy, I have applied several times myself, but I was helped by Ms Renata Jarosz from the Science Department, who told me how best to fill in the form and supported me throughout the process – says Dr Sylla, encouraging other young scientists to take part in the competition and emphasising that support from the administration can be invaluable in this process.

is