Every two years, the Berthold Leibinger Innovationspreis honors innovations in laser technology, regardless of whether they involve a laser-based beam source or application, or whether the development originates from a research institution or from industry. Both self-applications and nominations will be considered. Groups from all over the world can apply.
The Zukunftspreis is also awarded in this context.
Profiles
Laser technology has given rise to many trends: microprocessing ans 3D-printing, information technology and quantum computing, to mention but a few. On the one hand, lasers have been reduced in size until they have become tiny quantum points while on the other hand they have burgeoned into major installations.
The advancement and recognition of outstanding achievemnts in reasearch and development using and relating to laser light is therefore an important area of concern for the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung.
1st prize: € 50,000
2nd prize: € 30,000
3rd prize: € 20,000
The winners of the Berthold Leibinger Innovation Award 2000-2023
1st Prize
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Grote, Dr. Henning Vahlbruch, Prof. Dr. Benno Willke
Ultra High Precision Light Sources in Fundamental Physics and Beyond
2nd Prize
Prof. Dr. Zeev Zalevsky, Prof. Dr. Javier Garcia
Remote Bio-Sensing and Diagnosis of Cardio-Pulmonary Diseases
3rd Prize
OSEC Project Group, Quantune Technologies GmbH
OSEC - Tunable External-Cavity Quantum-Cascade Laser
1st Prize
Dr. Daniel Brown, Dr. Alexander Schafgans, Dr. Yezheng Tao
EUV Lithography
2nd Prize
Prof. Dr. Robert L. Byer, Prof. Dr. Peter Hommelhof
Particle Accelerator on a Chip
3rd Prize
Prof. Dr. Stephan Barcikowski, Prof. Dr. Bilal Gökce
Nanoparticle Synthesis
1st Prize
Thomas Schopphoven, Dr. Andres Gasser, Gerhard Maria Backes
Additive Manufacturing
2nd Prize
Project Group DELPHI
Photonic Integration
3rd Prize
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Popp, Prof. Dr. Ute Neugebauer
Raman Spectroscopy
1st Prize
Dr. Balthasar Fischer
Optical Microphone
2nd Prize
Dr. Garrett Cole, Prof. Dr. Markus Aspelmeyer
Crystalline Coatings
Project Group DLIP
Direct Laser Interference Patterning
3rd Prize
Laser Guide Star Alliance
Guide Star Laser
1st Prize
Dr. Alexander A. Oraevsky
Optoaksutics
2nd Prize
Dr. Helmut Erdl, Dr. Abdelmalek Hanafi
Illumination System
3rd Prize
Prof. Hwa-yaw Tam, Prof. Siu Lau Ho, Dr. Shun-Yee Michael Liu
Laser Sensing Network
1st Prize
Dr. Tso Yee Fan, Dr. Antonio Sanchez-Rubio, Dr. Bien Chann
Wavelength Multiplexing
2nd Prize
Project Group InnoSlab
InnoSlab Laser
3rd Prize
Felix Abt, Andreas Blug, Leonardo Nicolosi
Process Control System
1st Prize
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Trupke, Dr. Robert Bardos
Luminescence Imaging
2nd Prize
Prof. Dr. Karsten König
Multi-Photon Tomography
Dr. Ralph Delmdahl, Rainer Pätzel, Dr. Kai Schmidt, Dr. Alexander Usoskin
Pulsed Laser Deposition
3rd Prize
Prof. Dr. Majid Ebrahim-Zadeh
Tunable Femtosecond Lasers
1st Prize
Dr. Markus Willert, Ulrich Graf, Dr. Thorsten Bauer, Dr. Jens König
Cold Microprocessing
2nd Prize
Dr. Richard L. Sandstrom, Dr. William Partlo
VUV Lithography
3rd Prize
Dr. Cary Gunn
CMOS Photonics
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Czarske, Dr. Lars Büttner, Dr. Thorsten Pfister
Distance Sensor
1st Prize
Dr. Karin Schütze, Raimund Schütze
Laser Catapult
2nd Prize
Prof. Dr. Ian A. Walmsley
SPIDER
3rd Prize
Dr. Michael Mei, Dr. Ronald Holzwarth
Optical Frequency Comb
1st Prize
Prof. Dr. Ursula Keller
SESAM
2nd Prize
Prof. Dr. Andreas Tünnermann, Dr. Stefan Nolte, Dr. Holger Zellmer
Fiber Laser
3rd Prize
Dr. Axel Rolle
Lung Surgery
1st Prize
Work Group Disk Laser
Disk Laser
2nd Prize
Dr. Tibor Juhasz, Dr. Ronald Kurtz
Femto-LASIK
3rd Prize
Dr. Stefan Hell, Marcus Dyba, Dr. Alexander Egner
STED Microscopy
1st Prize
Dr. Josef Schneider
Printing Systems
2nd Prize
Dr. Martin Grabherr
High-performance VCSELs
3rd Prize
Prof. Dr. Yong Feng Lu
Microprocessing
Dates and News
The call has ended. The next call will start in June 2025.
Announcement of the finalists
Jury Session
Award Ceremony (together with the Award Ceremony for the Zukunftspreis)
Order of Events
Selection Process
There are two steps in the selection process: Step one is the selection of the eight finalists.
Presentation
The finalists present their work to the jury on February 14th, 2025 in Ditzingen.
Award Ceremony
On June 20th, 2025 the Prizes will be awarded in an award ceremony. At the same time the finalists will be honored for their work.
Participation
Participation in the presentation to the jury is mandatory for at least one person from the applying group.
Travel Expenses
Travel expenses to attend the jury session as well as the award ceremony will be reimbiursed by the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung.
Application
The application contains:
- Information on the application and an abstract of 5 to 10 lines in the webform
- Written documentation of 5-10 pages (PDF upload in the webform), taking into account the formal criteria listed under "Structure of the written documentation"
- Short biography of the applicant(s) or members of the applicant project group of a maximum of two pages (PDF upload in the webform)
- An explanation of approximately one page in length describing the context within which the work was carried out (PDF upload in webform)
Structure of written documentation:
- Abstract of 5 to 10 lines technological state of the art
- Illustrated description of the innovation
- How the solution was reached
- Advantages or technological benefits of the innovation in relation to the state of the art
- Practical utility and/or benefits
The jury
The jury is made up of independent jurors who select the winners of the Innovationspreis and the Zukunftspreis.
Prof. Dr. Tommaso Calarco
Director, Institute for Quantum Control Jülich Research Center
Prof. Eckhard Elsen
Former Director for Research and Computing, CERN
Dr. Bo Gu
President, BOS Photonics
Prof. Dr. Holger Hanselka
President of the Fraunhofer Society, Head of Corporate Strategy, Research and Communications
Prof. Dr. Stefan Hell
Director, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Dr. Carsten M. Philipp
Head physician, Center for Laser Medicine at the Evangelische Elisabeth-Klinik
Prof. Dr. Barbara Previtali
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Politecnico di Milano
Dr. h. ir. M.A. Martin van den Brink
President & CTO, ASML NV
Grazia Vittadini
Chief Technology Officer and Executive Board Member, Lufthansa Group
Prof. Dr. Otmar D. Wiestler
President, Hermann von Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers e.V.
All You Need to Know About the Innovation Award
Application and Language
Applications can be sent by individuals as well as project groups. Candidates can either be nominated or apply directly please use our webform. All required documents must be written in English.
Criteria
Each work submitted for the Innovation Award will be evaluated in terms of progress of scientific findings in relation to the state of the art, the scientific quality, and technical creativity as well as the individual's achievements. Practical utility and benefits are very important issues.
The core of the innovation of applications should be directly related to the effects or influence of laser light.
Innovation shall be understood as the overall process including all steps from recognizing a demand, creating an idea, finding the necessary basics, the product development, and manufacturing of a marketable product. The term is not limited to technical products but can likewise be used for any process or method.
Conditions of Participation
By submitting documents to the competition, the participants agree to the following conditions:
- The applicant/applicants declare their full copyright to the work submitted and exempt the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung from any third party claims.
- Applicants expressly agree to the storage and use of the data submitted (see also "Duty to provide information").
- Any additional documents submitted by mail cannot be returned.
- The Berthold Leibinger Stiftung reserves the right to make changes and modifications to the conditions of participation.
- Legal action is excluded.
Nominations for the Innovationspreis
If you wish to nominate someone else for the Innovation Award, please submit the following:
- Information on the nominee and his work with an abstract of 5 to 10 lines in the webform
- Reasons for prize worthiness of nominated innovation
Data Privacy Notice
Submission of the application means automatic recognition to having the collected data specifically saved in the context of the innovation prize and to forwarding personal data and information contained in the documentation for the following purposes:
- Evaluation through the foundation's staff, jurors and external experts
- Publication of applicants, the title and abstract of applications
- Inclusion of applicants, nominated and nominators in distribution lists for information related to the Berthold Leibinger Innovationspreis and the Berthold Leibinger Zukunftspreis
- Forwarding of information from finalists and prizewinners to service providers for public relation's purposes
- Forwarding of the documentary part of applications to anybody with a qualified interest (publication of the innovation)
- Information to be provided in accordance with Art. 13 GDPR where personal data are collected for the innovation award
Confidential information that should be excluded from the above uses will be handled strictly confidential when clearly marked so.
