Manfred Curbach, Pioneer of Carbon-Reinforced Concrete, Wins 2025 Nobel Sustainability Award

Professor Manfred Curbach has been recognized with the 2025 Nobel Sustainability Academic Award for his contributions to sustainable development through the practical application of carbon fiber reinforced concrete.

The prestigious Sustainability Awards, presented in cooperation with the Nobel Sustainability Foundation (NST) and Technical University of Munich (TUM), honor two distinguished researchers from Germany and Canada, as well as an international organization based in Australia this year.

The 2025 award recipients will share a total of up to SEK 1.3 million. The awards will be distributed among Prof. Manfred Curbach from TU Dresden (Leadership in Sustainability Implementation category), Prof. Paul Hebert from University of Guelph (Excellence in Research and Development in Biodiversity category), and the Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities (GOHSC, Excellence in Research and Development for Smart and Sustainable Urban Solutions category).
The award recipients are recognized for their leadership and innovative contributions to implementing sustainability measures. Particularly highlighted are their contributions including the development of environmentally friendly carbon concrete, the use of DNA barcodes to catalog biodiversity, and the establishment of a global monitoring system for healthier and more sustainable cities.

The academic community of TU Dresden is pleased to announce that Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Curbach will receive the 2025 Nobel Sustainability Academic Award in the Leadership in Sustainability Implementation category. This internationally recognized award honors the extraordinary role he has played as a pioneer in carbon reinforced concrete. Carbon reinforced concrete offers a sustainable alternative to traditional reinforced concrete; it enables the construction of resource-efficient, lightweight and durable structures. This makes a significant difference in the preservation and renovation of existing structures and contributes substantially to reducing CO₂ emissions in the construction sector. Prof. Curbach received the German Future Award presented by the German President in 2016 for this groundbreaking development.

For over 30 years, Prof. Curbach has shaped the Institute for Concrete Structures at TU Dresden and, as a researcher, advanced the idea of fundamentally redesigning construction – making structures lighter, more economical and more sustainable. Through projects such as the "CUBE" carbon reinforced concrete building on the TU Dresden campus, which showcases the world's first building constructed entirely from carbon reinforced concrete, he has impressively demonstrated how innovative research can be directly applied in practice.
Award recipient Prof. Manfred Curbach stated: "Receiving this award from the Nobel Sustainability Foundation is an extraordinarily valued honor. On this occasion, I would like to thank all my colleagues and the team with whom I have worked to bring carbon reinforced concrete to the application stage. Such innovation would not have been possible without a large and international team. We are particularly indebted to TU Dresden for providing the continuous opportunity to conduct research. The development of carbon reinforced concrete is also an example of high-performance research and knowledge transfer in cooperation with federal and state supporters. We express our thanks to all supporters."

TU Dresden Rector Prof. Ursula Staudinger said: "On Wednesday evening, we learned with great joy that our colleague Prof. Manfred Curbach has been recognized with the Academic Sustainability Award by the Nobel Sustainability Foundation. This award honors his decades of work in sustainable construction and his groundbreaking research on carbon reinforced concrete – a material that transforms concrete, conserves resources, reduces CO₂ emissions and sets new standards in environmentally friendly construction. We can now count one third of this 'little Nobel' as our own achievement at TU Dresden – this is a strong sign of how solution-oriented and effective our research is on the international stage."

Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow stated: "I am very pleased to learn of this extraordinary award for Prof. Curbach and congratulate him warmly. Professor Curbach's pioneering ideas and research in sustainable construction have developed excellently thanks to the supportive environment at TU Dresden. This Nobel Sustainability Academic Award for the Free State of Saxony is a confirmation that Saxony is developing its capabilities as a science center through long-term and purposeful strategy."

The awards will be presented on 5 December 2025 at the 5th Nobel Sustainability Summit in Miami. The Sustainability Awards are open to individuals in science, industry, organizations and companies that actively contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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