HZDR Innovation Contest 2025
High Voltage, High Spirits, Hightech
The HZDR Innovation Contest Thrills with Ideas for Tomorrow
Two days filled with energy, curiosity, and genuine excitement: From December 2 to 3, 2025, the HZDR library transformed into a vibrant laboratory of ideas during this year’s HZDR Innovation Contest. Now in its ninth round, the competition was high-caliber and thrilling from the very first to the very last pitch. In total, 11 researchers presented their innovative concepts in short talks, showcasing the potential to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and real-world application.
While the five projects pitched in the Idea Track on the first day are still at comparatively early stages, the six innovations in the Prototype Track on the second day have already delivered first proofs of feasibility. What unites both tracks is a visionary commitment to advancing new technologies that contribute to a healthy society, a sustainable industry, and overall resource and energy efficiency.
The winners in the Prototype Track were:
- 1st place – Prof. Aswin L. Hoffmann with the development of a real-time imaging technology for proton radiotherapy;
- 2nd place – Biotechnology student Emma Pustlauk with a platform for magnet-based recycling;
- 3rd place – Dr. Helmut Schultheiß with a neural chip for smartwatches capable of predicting heart attacks.
The winners in the Idea Track come from the field of biotechnology:
- 1st place – Dr. Purvi Jain for a chromium-free metallic coating process;
- 2nd place – Dr. Thomas Krause for the concept of a modular peptide membrane that filters micro-pollutants such as pharmaceuticals from wastewater;
- 3rd place – Gerda Techert for a process to recycle rare earth elements from industrial wastewater.
The diversity and quality of the contributions highlighted how innovation can flourish when talent, curiosity, and team spirit come together. The Innovation Contest 2025 thus sent a strong signal for the vibrant transfer culture at HZDR. On both competition days, the presenters were supported by their research groups, and at the end, the audience vote contributed one fifth to the overall score.
Prototype Track
- 1st Place: Prof. Dr. Aswin L. Hoffmann – MRiPT – Real-time MR-integrated Proton Therapy (€1500)
- 2nd Place: Emma Pustlauk – OmniMagPure (€1000)
- 3rd Place: Dr. Helmut Schultheiß – Magnon-based computing for energy-efficient edge AI (€500)
Idea Track
- 1st Place: Dr. Purvi Jain – Bi-Pept-PM
- 2nd Place: Dr. Thomas Krause – MolSelect: Molecule-Selective Modular Membrane Filters for the Valorization of Contaminants
- 3rd Place: Gerda Techert – PepREEcip – Rare Earth Element Recovery via Peptide-induced Precipitation
There are two contest tracks:
Idea Track:
- for ideas that are still at a very early stage of development and that have not yet been tested for their feasibility in principle. A proof of principle is therefore missing.
Prototype Track:
- for ideas that have already been tested for feasibility and are now to be further developed for specific applications.
How to participate:
- application form: stating your name, motivation and a brief outline of the idea. Send the form to contest@hzdr-academy.de using the form below.
- Participants can apply individually or as a team. If there is only one idea provider, we will provide at least one other person to further refine the idea together with the idea provider. The teams can consist of interested scientists, doctoral students, innovation managers and/or external experts.
- Contest-Workshop: compulsory event in which the idea providers, with the support of mentors, create a commercialisation plan for their ideas and pitch this plan to a panel of experts. In addition to the possible exploitation path (e.g. licence, sale, contract R&D), the pitch also focuses on aspects such as problem solving, market analysis, unique selling points and the team.
- Special for Idea Track: Idea providers for the Idea Track have the opportunity to apply for the Prototype Track the following year. Workshops are organised to prepare participants for the competition in terms of content and methodology.
Idea Track
benefits in kind
Prototype Track
- 1st prize: 1.500 €
- 2nd prize: 1.000 €
- 3rd prize: 500 €
Successful participants in both tracks have the opportunity to apply for funding from the HZDR Innovation Fund for the validation and further development of their ideas. This often involves co-financing for other funding programmes. The team of HZDR innovation managers provides support when applying for further funding.
Dr. Anne Richter, Projektmanager HZDR Innovators School, phone: +49 (0)351 260 – 3851 / anne.richter@hzdr.de
Melanie Giebel, Technology Marketing, phone: +49 (0)351 260 – 2062 / m.giebel@hzdr.de
Sebastian Löbelt-Friedrich, Startup Manager dresden | exists, phone: +49 (0)351 463 31627 / sebastian.friedrich@dresden-exists.de
Dorit Teichmann, Innovationmanager Life Science and Trainer, phone: +49 (0)351 260 – 2800 / d.teichmann@hzdr.de
Participation in the HZDR Innovation Contest is just the beginning. All participating idea providers remain in contact with the innovation managers beyond the competition. Further support from the transfer department includes innovation management, marketing, networking and, of course, transfer qualification.
We also publicise the innovative ideas from the competition both internally and externally. The winners will be honoured by the HZDR Executive Board at the HZDR Transfer Day on 27 January 2026.
The winner teams of the Innovation Contest 2024
Mohd Saif Shaikh, Dr. Shengqiang Zhou and Dr. Yonder Berencén from the Institute for Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, Department of Semiconductor Materials
project: Compact optical dual-band sensors based on silicon for telecommunication applications.
Dr. Andréa de Lima Ribeiro and the sensors research group led by Dr. Margret Fuchs at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology
project: HiF Smart sEnsor nEtworK (HiSEEK) for the efficient identification of black plastics.
Dr. Slawomir Prucnal and Dr. Shengqiang Zhou from the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, Department of Semiconductor Materials
project: Functionalized photocatalysts as filters for wastewater treatment or application in air conditioning systems.
The winner of the HZDR Innovation Contest 2024
All winner from 2017 – 2024
You also find at our „Wall of Fame“ in the HZDR Transfer Exhibition