International High-Tech Prize of the Bavarian Minister President

In 2025, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities will honour technological excellence for the first time with the "Bavarian Pioneer Award - International High-Tech Prize of the Bavarian Minister President". The prize is endowed with 300,000 euros and is made possible by the Ulrich L. Rohde Foundation.

The prize is intended to honour established top scientists and their scientific achievements that have led to ground-breaking technological innovations and inventions or show corresponding future potential. The successful transfer into commercial products with a high social impact is an important aspect here. By organising the "Bavarian Pioneer Award - International High-Tech Prize of the Bavarian Minister President", the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities emphasises the importance of science in the Bavarian and international context and focuses on topics of scientific and social relevance.

The "Bavarian Pioneer Award" is endowed with 300,000 euros and covers a total of eight areas of technology: Electronic Communications Technology, Telecommunications, Optical Communications Technology, Satellite Communications, Quantum Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering/Technology, Autonomous Systems Technology and Medical Technology (focus: Imaging). The annual calls for proposals will focus on one of these areas.

In 2024, the prize will be awarded for information and communication technology. The focus will be on the following specialist areas:

• Electronic communication technology
• Telecommunications
• Optical communication technology
• Satellite communication

Nominations are open to scientists conducting research in Germany or internationally. Self-nominations are excluded. Nomination proposals in German or English should not exceed eight printed pages (approx. 14,400 characters including spaces) and can be submitted by scientists from Germany and abroad:

The following should be submitted:

• Presentation of current research achievements and research interests (3-4 pages) in one of the four subject areas listed in this year's call for proposals
• Curriculum vitae of the proposed researcher or members of the research group (max. 2 pages each),
• List of key publications (1-2 pages),
• a half-page summary of the proposal in German and English (1 page in total)

The criteria for the selection of award winners are:

• The quality of the scientific achievement according to internationally established scientific criteria
• the social relevance, connectivity and future orientation of the research results
• the successful transfer into commercial products with a high social impact is also recognised

In exceptional cases, the "Bavarian Pioneer Award - International High-Tech Prize of the Bavarian Minister President" is awarded to two scientists (150,000 euros per prize winner). The prize money is not earmarked for a specific purpose.

Nominations can be submitted electronically until 30 September 2024:

To the President of the
Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Prof Dr Markus Schwaiger
bavarianpioneeraward@badw.de

For further enquiries please call
Phone 089/23031-1169
E-mail: bavarianpioneeraward@badw.de

The "Bavarian Pioneer Award - International High-Tech Prize of the Bavarian Minister President" is awarded by a selection committee chaired by the President of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The award winner is determined in a multi-stage process. In the first stage, the proposals submitted are scrutinised by the selection committee. In the second step, the selection committee obtains independent expert opinions on the proposed candidates from nationally and internationally renowned scientists. From this, a "shortlist" is drawn up, whose candidates undergo further assessment in a third step. On this basis, the selection committee submits a proposal for suitable candidates to the Board of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The final decision on the awarding of the prize lies with the Board of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.