For the eighth time, we are looking for innovative research ideas that have the potential to be transformed into a product or service for practical application.
Who can participate?
Are you a scientist, employee, technician, lab assistant, PhD student, or postdoc?
The HZDR Innovation Contest is open to anyone with an innovative idea on how research results or scientific knowledge can be transformed into marketable products or services. Guest scientists and researchers from other institutions, such as TU Dresden, can participate as part of a team with HZDR staff.
Your benefits:
Process and prizes
Starting from the kick-off event, ideas can be submitted through the form. The deadline for submitting ideas is November 7, 2024.
Starting this year, there are two tracks that participants can apply for.
- The Idea Track is for ideas that are still in a very early stage of development and have not yet been tested for their fundamental feasibility. In other words, they lack a proof of principle.
- The Prototype Track is for ideas that have already been tested for feasibility and now need to be further developed for specific applications.
Participants apply using the registration form, providing their name, motivation, and a brief outline of their idea. The form is submitted via the form below to contest@hzdr-academy.de. Participants can apply individually or as a team. If there is only one idea contributor, we will provide at least one additional person to help further refine the idea together with the contributor. The teams can consist of interested scientists, PhD students, innovation managers, and/or external experts.
The core of the competition is a workshop where the idea contributors, with the support of mentors, develop a commercialization plan for their ideas and pitch this plan to an expert jury. The pitch focuses not only on the potential commercialization path (e.g., licensing, sales, contract R&D) but also on aspects such as problem-solving, market analysis, unique selling points, and the team.
The competition workshop will be conducted for both the Idea Track and the Prototype Track. Participants in the Idea Track have the opportunity to apply for the Prototype Track in the following year. To prepare for the competition, there are workshops designed to equip participants with the necessary content and methods to succeed in the competition.
Dates:
- 29.08.2024: Kick-off information event
- 07.11.2024: End of application period
- 11.11.2024: Workshop “1×1 of Utilization Planning” for the Prototype Track | with Sebastian Löbelt-Friedrich
- 14.11.2024: Idea Assessment Workshop for the Idea Track | with Dorit Teichmann
- 28.11.2024: Pitch workshop for both Tracks
- 09.12.2024: Innovation Contest – Workshop for the Idea Track
- 10.12.2024: Innovation Contest – Workshop for the Prototype Track
- 10.12.2024: Announcement of the winners and Transfer After Work
- 28.01.2025: Awarding of the winners at the HZDR Transfer Day
In the Idea Track, the winning team will receive a non-cash prize.
In the Prototype Track, the top three teams will receive a cash prize:
1st place: 1.500 €
2nd place: 1.000 €
3rd place: 500 €
Additionally, successful participants from both tracks have the opportunity to apply for funding from the HZDR Innovation Fund to validate and further develop their ideas. These are often co-financings for other funding programs. The HZDR innovation management team supports applicants in securing additional funding.
Melanie Giebel, Technology Marketing, Tel.: 0351 260 – 2062 / m.giebel@hzdr.de
Dorit Teichmann, Innovation Manager Life Science and Trainer, Tel.: 0351 260 – 2800 / d.teichmann@hzdr.de
Sebastian Löbelt-Friedrich, Startup Manager dresden|exists, Tel.: 0351 463 31627 / sebastian.friedrich@dresden-exists.de
Dr. Anne Richter, Project Manager HZDR Innovators School, Tel.: 0351 260 – 3851 / anne.richter@hzdr.de
Participating in the HZDR Innovation Contest is just the beginning. All participating idea contributors will continue to engage with the innovation managers beyond the competition. The ongoing support from the Transfer department includes innovation management, marketing, networking, and, of course, transfer qualification.
We also work to make the innovative ideas from the competition visible both internally and externally. The winners will be honored by the HZDR Board at the HZDR Transfer Day on January 28, 2025.
