In order to promote the training of engineers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)  in the field of environment, CSD has inaugurated an award to be known as the CSD Prize for the Environment.

This prize rewards a student from the Environmental Sciences and Engineering Section, who has completed an excellent master's project of exceptional quality which can lead to solutions that improve the quality of life and the environment.

This year, this prize has been awarded to Ms Dorothea Spuhler for her work on "The influence of Fe(II), FE(III) and the photo-Fenton reagent on Solar Water Disinfection. Basic Assessment at Laboratory Scale".

Her work has demonstrated, amongst other things, that the disactivation of bacteria under solar light can also be done by adding a ferrous salt (photocatalyst) and lemon juice (lowering the pH and forming organic photosensitive compounds), without adding H2O2, which is normally necessary in photo-Fenton processes. Dorothea's work has not only answered some important questions, but has also resulted in opening several paths for future research in this area. Two international publications are under preparation based on her results