Ben Feringa Impact Award 2025: UEF supports student Igor Marchenko

The Ubbo Emmius Fund (UEF) congratulates student Igor Marchenko and researcher Francesco Picchioni on winning the Ben Feringa Impact Award 2025. Igor Marchenko, a student at Campus Fryslân of the University of Groningen, won the award in the student category. He will receive €2,500 for his project “Phone Masking Augmentation for Automatic Recognition of Whispered Speech.” This prize is made possible by the Ubbo Emmius Fund.

Marchenko’s research focuses on the automatic recognition of whispered speech, an important development for people with speech disorders. By combining linguistic knowledge with artificial intelligence, he developed smart techniques that achieve accurate results even with limited data.

During the fifth edition of the award ceremony, held on Tuesday 13 May at the House of Connections, the jury praised Marchenko’s work as groundbreaking both technologically and socially. His interdisciplinary approach, which brings together linguistics and artificial intelligence, opens up new possibilities for people with speech disorders and for broader applications in inclusive technology.

In the researcher category, the award went to Francesco Picchioni from the Faculty of Science & Engineering. He developed a method to sustainably recycle rubber from used car tyres. With his project “Rubber Recycling,” he contributes to waste reduction and the reuse of industrial materials. For his contribution, he receives €5,000, provided by the University of Groningen.

Since its introduction, the Ubbo Emmius Fund has supported the award and, through the student prize, encourages socially relevant research among students.

The jury for the 2025 edition consisted of:
Erik Frijlink (UMCG/FMW/FSE)
Joost van Egmond (Science journalist, Trouw)
Marijke Leliveld (FEB)
Mateo Bril (Student Assessor, Board of the University)
Mladen Popovic (FRC&M)
Nienke Homan (Chair, VNCI)

Photo by: Angelo Roga