From Lab to Market Challenge

Students, PhD students, Post-docs, research assistants, professors and alumni with clear connection to a German university or research institution are eligble to participate individually or as a team. Multiple ideas may be submitted. If successful, however, a maximum of one proposal per participant will be awarded a price.

Only fully completed proposals received before 30 March 2026 (23:59 CET) will be considered. Incomplete submissions or submissions exceeding the specific scope cannot be considered.

Register for our challenge, download and fill in the idea submission form. Submit the complete proposal to challenges@chemstars.de before the submission deadline.

No, it is not possible to have your proposal checked in advance, as this would distort the competition.

Yes. All parties who learn about your idea are bound to secrecy. And we will never ask you to disclose any confidential information in public.

Yes, multiple proposals may be submitted per participant/ team, but a maximum of one proposal per participant/ team can win a prize.

Both, proposals with product and service ideas can be submitted.

Yes, you can. A submitted EXIST start-up grant or research transfer application is fine. However, proposals from participants/ teams that have received approval on their EXIST application prior to their application to the From Lab to Market Challenge are excluded from participation.

At least one representative from each winning team must attend the award ceremony and present their idea to the public. The idea may be reported on by the organizers of the competition within the framework of public relations. Of course, no confidential information will be published and the rules of good journalism will be respected. The payment of the prize money is not connected to any further obligations. However, further development of the ideas is desired and will be supported even after the end of the competition.

The competition is organized by chemstars in collaboration with regional partners greenCHEM, koala, QuinCat, chemSPACE and Forum Rathenau.

Submitted ideas must have been developed independently by participants and must not infringe the rights of third parties. Ideas that have received funding through regional or federal programs like VIP+, GO-BIO, EXIST or similar funding programs cannot be considered. If you have applied for but not yet received funding, you may participate.

Participants agree to present their idea at the award event and contribute to press work. This specifically excludes confidential information.

Yes. Your submission will not be accepted if:

- Your submission form is incomplete
- Important information is missing in your proposal
- The conditions of participations have been violated
- An EXIST Application has already been approved with the idea
- The idea has already been funded by any other grant.

Since there is an explicit call for ideas at an early stage of development, the maturity of the ideas in not a decision criterion. The jury will make its decision based on the following criteria:
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- Creativity and innovation
- Research relevance
- Customer benefit and market potential
- Chances of realization

Yes, both individuals and teams can submit ideas.

We have a two-fold evaluation mechanism:

First, a jury of people who bring professional expertise in various fields will evaluate the ideas based on the submitted forms.

Second, there will be an audience voting at the Grand Award Event. Both evaluations combined will determine the winners of the prizes.

Yes, participation in the From Lab to Market Challenge is independent of participation in other competitions. However, if the submitted ideas has already won awards in other competitions, participants must state this in their application.

To be determined

Yes, all submissions are reviewed by experts. In each case, you will receive valuable feedback, important contact recommendations and support in implementation. In addition, you get to meet like-minded people who are eager to make an impact. The top teams will receive coaching by experts in a full-day workshop, pitch-training and the chance to present at our award event. If you like, we will certify your participation in the workshops & trainings, too.