The Editorial Board of Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies is pleased to announce that starting from 2012, two prizes will be awarded once a year for the best papers published in the pages of our journal, selected from papers published in the preceding year.

  • Both prizes were funded by families of the prematurely deceased scientists connected with researches on the Baltic Sea, and are an annual scientific award granted to an international scientists for outstanding, published in the Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies, creative scientific work in his themes touching aspects of environmental protection of aquatic ecosystems, the results of which may have a significant contribution to the activities, directly related to conservation of state and resources of environment.
  • Nominated works must be published during the year preceding the award.
  • Prizes are awarded annually by the appointed for this purpose for a five-chapter, which is meeting in January.

The Tomasz Jóźwiak prize of 5000 PLN for the best paper dedicated to conservation of the Baltic Sea environment

Tomasz Jóźwiak, PhD

Born on 21 July, 1959, in Milanówek. In May 1983, he finished studies at the Chemical Faculty of the Gdansk University of Technology. In 1985, he started to work as a engineering and technical assistant at the Institute of Biologic Oceanography at the University of Gdansk and participated in the scientific activity of the Department of Ecology of Marine Plants, especially when it comes to using Math to monitor the interrelation between particular environmental parameters, including the prediction of changes in the marine ecosystems. In May 1986, he became a member of the Phycological Section of the Polish Botanical Society, a year later he joined the Polish Hydrobiological Society. In 1991, at the foundation meeting in Warsaw, he became a founding member of the Polish Ecological Society. In 2005, he was one of the founding members of the Polish Phycological Society. In December 1996, having presented a thesis entitled “The Influence of Sozological Changes on the Ecosystem of the Polish Coastal Zone in 1992-1995,” written under the supervision of Professor Anna Szaniawska, PhD, he was awarded a PhD degree in Oceanology. His scientific interests focused on three research profiles: the control of changes in the species composition of the macroalgae on the Polish coast of the Baltic Sea, the search of ecological conditions of algal bloom, especially when it comes to the cyanobacteria, and the sozology of the Baltic coast. The third, most dominating research area was linked to the fact that he obtained the position of Poland’s national coordinator within the European research and didactic project entitled “Coastwatch Europe,” carried out under auspices of the Environment Commission of the European Parliament. His participation in the project inspired his interest in the sustainability of the coastal zone. His academic achievements include: 10 books, 24 scientific articles, and 20 speeches at conferences and symposia. As he took part in many radio and television auditions and wrote 150 articles for local newspapers, he considerably contributed to the promotion of knowledge in the sphere of biology of the sea and the protection of marine environment. In 1996-2002, he served as the director of the Rector’s Office at the University of Gdansk and was the Editor-in-Chief of the academic magazine “Vivat Academia”, published by the University of Gdansk. In 2010, he published his habilitation thesis entitled “The Parameterisation of the Sozological Status of the South Baltic in the Light of the Idea of Sustainability.” In the thesis, he presented two innovative methods of using sozological parameters to diagnose the status of the coast in detail and assess the level of sustainability. He got four highly positive reviews in the PhD programme. Unfortunately, the progress of his neoplastic disease prevented him from taking the exam. He died on 19 March, 2011.

The Jerzy Masłowski prize of 5000 PLN for the best paper dedicated to issues of biology of the Baltic Sea

Jerzy Masłowski, PhD

Was born on 7 January, 1949, in Toruń. In 1971, he defended his MA thesis entitled “The Reaction of Smelts (Osmerus eperlanus L.) on the Light of the Electric Bulb” written under the supervision of Professor Lech Szlauer in the Department of Hydrozoology at the Agricultural Academic School in Szczecin (later it became the Agricultural Academy, now it is called the West Pomeranian University of Technology). In the same year (1971), he started to work at the Institute of Oceanography, as a technical assistant. Though he occupied this position for 20 years, he was a technical worker only in theory; in practice, he participated in a number of scientific projects and conducted classes for students. He is was known to be uncommonly patient and extremely conscientious, he spent long hours at the microscope, analysing live sea organisms found in the material from the bottom sediments of the south Baltic Sea and the estuary of the Oder. The crowning achievement of his many years of arduous work was a PhD thesis, written under the supervision of Professor Idzi Drzycimski, PhD, entitled “Changes in the Bottom Macrofauna of the Szczecin Lagoon in 1950-1988,” which he defended with distinction in 1991 at the Agricultural Academy in Szczecin, and obtained the position of adjunct in the Department of Oceanography at the Academy. He participated in a number of scientific projects on biology and ecology of the sea and estuaries, for example “Project ODER,” coordinated by the University of Edinburgh under the 3rd Framework Programme of the European Community, and a programme entitled “The Influence of the Water of the Oder on the ecosystem of the Bay of Pomerania,” financed from the resources of the Polish and German Foundation. Among the oceanographers, Jerzy Masłowski was an unquestionable and highly respected authority on the marine macrozoobentos. His academic achievements include 13 scientific articles, over 20 speeches at conferences and symposia, and 13 commissioned works. Together with his colleagues, he published an educational script entitled “The Biological Oceanography”. In January 2008, during his work on the correction of his habilitation thesis entitled “The Bottom Macrofauna of the Bay of Pomerania in 1976-2005”, he became seriously ill. The neoplastic disease he had did not allow him to finish the next, fully deserved stage of his scientific and didactic career. He died on 24 May, 2009.