Five OBC poster prizes were awarded at Biotrans 2009, which took place in Berne, Switzerland, on 5-9 July.

This biennial conference focused on applied and fundamental aspects of biocatalysis and drew in over 450 delegates. The standard of the many poster presentations was excellent, making the judges' decision difficult, but we are delighted to announce the prize winners as:

• Olga Khersonsky (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) - Directed evolution of in silico designed enzymes 
• Dai-ichiro Kato (University of Hyogo, Japan) - Very simple method for the preparation of aminoacyl-tRNAs 
• José Sánchez-Montero (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain) - Molecular modelling to explain selective esterification of phthalic acids in ionic liquids at high temperatures using a thermostable lipase 
• Alja Westerbeek (University of Groningen, the Netherlands) - Dehalogenase-catalysed desymmetrization of prochiral dihaloalkanes   
• Kurt Faber (University of Graz, Austria) - Probing inverting and retaining alkylsulfatases via ¹⁸O-Labeling 

The winners received an OBC poster prize certificate, a one-year subscription to the journal and an RSC book.

Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to Jean-Louis Reymond and the rest of the scientific committee for judging the prizes.