Honouring successful spin-offs

Innovations secure our future. As novel products, services, and processes, they provide the foundation for the economic success of numerous companies and bring a wide range of benefits to people in all aspects of life. Time and again, such innovations also originate at one of the institutes of the Max Planck Society.

Every two years, the Stifterverband and the Max Planck Society recognize special achievements from the Max Planck Society in the field of entrepreneurship with the Max Planck-Startup Award of the Stifterverband. The prize is awarded to successful startups of the Max Planck Society that have a particularly positive impact on society.

The Max Planck Society is increasingly promoting spin-off activities with various support measures. The Max Planck-Startup Prize of the Stifterverband is one component of this initiative to strengthen the startup culture at the Max Planck Institutes and is intended to encourage researchers to perceive and actively pursue the topic of start-ups as a career option.

Jury members

Prof. Dr. Claudia Felser, Vice-President of the Max Planck Society and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (chair)

Dr. Jörn Erselius, Managing Director Max Planck Innovation

Andrea Frank, Deputy Secretary General of the Stifterverband

Dr. Bernd Goergen, Partner High-Tech Gründerfonds

Prof. Dr. Dietmar Harhoff, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition

Dr. Marion Jung

Ulrich Mahr, Member General Management Max Planck Innovation