Endeavours Award: Quick Guide through Terms and Conditions

It’s FZJ’s official recognition for excellence in Knowledge and Technology Transfer. We celebrate employees who bridge the gap between lab and market, turning scientific insights into applications usable in industry or society.

The award is granted once per year.

The award is issued by Forschungszentrum Jülich, managed by the Innovation Division (I), and awarded by the Board of Directors. Funding is provided by the Helmholtz Innovation Fund.

Yes — the effort is small, the visibility is lasting. A nomination takes little time, but it highlights work that often remains unseen: successful transfer, collaboration, and application of research.

The award helps your institute demonstrate impact — internally and externally — without additional projects or reporting.

The official Terms and Conditions of the Endeavours Award are available as a downloadable document. They describe all categories, eligibility rules, and the nomination process in full detail.

→ Read the complete Terms and Conditions

The Endeavours Award is granted in three categories:

• Ventures: For building spin-offs and start-ups — from first idea to execution. Awarded with €2,500 € per person.

• Pioneers: For making transfer happen: e.g. licensing, software transfer, structured knowledge sharing, or innovation-driven third-party funding. Awarded with €2,500 € per person.

• Best Innovator: For truly exceptional individual or team achievements that go far beyond the norm. Awarded with €5,000 € per person.

Note: The Best Innovator category is curated by the Innovation Division (I).

The decisive factor is how well the contribution fits one of our categories.

Ventures – This could be you if you

• Helped turn research into a start-up idea

• Joined or shaped a founding team

• Worked on IP strategy, validation, or business modelling

• Invested serious time before a company even existed

You don’t need a registered company yet.

Pioneers – This could be you if you

• Closed or prepared a license or option agreement

• Transferred software, data, or know-how to external users

• Secured innovation-focused third-party funding

• Built a cooperation with real application potential

You don’t need a market-ready product.

Best Innovator – This could be you if you

• Consistently drove innovation far beyond your role

• Opened doors, created momentum, and made things happen

• Acted as an intrapreneur over years — not weeks

→ Read the complete Terms and Conditions

If you actively helped move research toward application, it probably does. If you’re unsure, submit — or talk to Innovation (I). We’ll help you assess it.

→ Talk to Innovation (I)

Answer these questions honestly:

• Did someone help move research closer to real use in society or industry?
• Did they go beyond publishing — towards application, collaboration, or commercialization?
• Did they actively contribute (not just formally supervise)?

If you answered yes to at least one:

That’s exactly what the Endeavours Award is for. → Submit your nomination

Any FZJ employee is welcome to propose a person or a project.

All current FZJ employees — including doctoral researchers — with a valid employment contract.

To keep things fair, some roles are excluded:

• Innovation support roles: Employees in I, UE, UK, D, R, M, P, ZB, or PtJ — because innovation support is one of their core responsibilities.
• Leadership roles: Institute Directors and Science Managers are usually not awarded in Ventures or Pioneers if transfer is part of their regular duties.
• Alumni: You must be actively employed at FZJ at the time of the award.

Absolutely, we explicitly encourage self-nominations.

You don’t need prior consent. We'll inform nominees.

We’ve streamlined the process: just use our standardized online form. It takes about 10 minutes.

You’ll:

• Describe the project

• Name the team

• Explain what they specifically contributed

No uploads. No forms within forms.

→ Start your nomination

First, enjoy the recognition! You don’t need to do anything yet. If we need more details later — such as a cooperation agreement or business plan — we’ll contact you.

Yes. As many as you like.

By email.

The FZJ Executive Board makes the final selection.

As soon as the Board has made its decision, we notify all nominees and awardees.

We check eligibility, assess the nomination against the criteria, and prepare everything for the Board’s final decision.

Nomination deadline 2026: February 8

A few tipps:

• Ventures: Nominate 6–12 months before the company is founded.
• Doctoral researchers: Use your Empowerment Prize within one year.

• Ventures & Pioneers: €2,500 per person
• Best Innovator: €5,000 per person

If you’re an employee, we add it as a one-time taxable payment to your payslip. You can receive it on top of any employee invention compensation.

No. Legal rules don’t allow direct cash payments. Instead, you receive an Alternative Empowerment Prize.

A budget of the same value for your development — use it for conferences, travel, coaching, or specialized training. Note: You have one year to use it.

Yes. A nomination does not guarantee an award, and a declined submission does not exclude future nominations. Projects evolve, contributions grow, and resubmitting is explicitly possible.

Yes — and this matters.

• Employee Invention Compensation: Rewards the creation of intellectual property (IP).

• Endeavours Award: Honors the effort and engagement required to turn that IP into application for economy or society. You can receive the Endeavours Award independently of, and in addition to, any standard invention remuneration.

That’s fine. We value progress and commitment — not just final outcomes.

Perfect. We reward individual contributions within teams.

Leadership titles don’t matter. Real contribution does.

No conflict. These recognitions reward different things — and can be combined.

Submit anyway — or talk to Innovation (I). We’ll help you sort it out. → Talk to Innovation (I)