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Microbiologist Han Wösten has won the prestigious Huibregtsen Prize 2025. He receives the award for his groundbreaking research on new, sustainable materials made from fungal threads, also known as mycelium. The award recognises Wösten’s innovative scientific work, that shows how fungi can contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable world.
 

The goes to microbiologist Han Wösten, who studies how fungal threads can grow into sustainable materials. The prize was presented on 16 October 2025 by Gouke Moes (the Dutch caretaker minister of Education, Culture and Science) and jury chair Marileen Dogterom.

According to the jury, “it seems too good to be true: a floor, a bag or even a dress or a pair of jeans made from fungal threads.” Yet Wösten has been working since 2012 to understand how mycelium networks grow and how they can be used to create environmentally friendly products.

Wösten’s research focuses on developing materials that do not harm the environment and can replace polluting raw materials in sectors such as construction and textiles. His research group has already created several types of fungal materials with wood-like, rubber-like and plastic-like properties.

Innovative and promising

In its report, the jury praises Wösten’s work as innovative and promising. It also highlights the social significance of the research: “The prospect that fungi can serve as an alternative raw material for a wide range of products fills the jury with great enthusiasm, in a time that calls for sustainability.”

Together with fashion designer Aniela Hoitink, Wösten created the first dress made from fungal threads, which is now part of the collection of the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� Museum Utrecht. The jury notes that “Wösten’s fungal threads are finding new paths to companies, artists and consumers.”

The Huibregtsen Prize is a great honour, and a recognition of the enormous potential we see in fungi

“The Huibregtsen Prize is a great honour, and a recognition of the enormous potential we see in fungi,” says Wösten. “The beauty of working with fungi is that they teach us how to think in circular ways. We are only at the beginning of what is possible.”

Award ceremony

The prize was presented on 16 October 2025 during the annual Evening of Science & Society in the Pieterskerk in Leiden. The award includes a sculpture by artist Wil van der Laan, a certificate, and a cash prize of €25,000, intended for further research or communication. Also included is the opportunity to organise a scientific workshop in collaboration with the Lorentz Center in Leiden.