The European Commission calls on all women innovators!

Published: Monday, April 29, 2013

The European Commission has launched the second edition of the Women Innovators Prize to reward three women who have achieved outstanding innovations and brought them to market.

The Prize aims to raise awareness of the need for more female entrepreneurs and to inspire other women to follow in their footsteps. The first prize is worth €100 000, the second prize €50 000 and third prize €25 000.

The contest is open to all women who have founded or co-founded their company and who have at some point of their careers benefitted from the EU's research framework programmes or the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme.  The deadline for applying is 15 October 2013. An independent panel of judges from business and academia will examine and select the three winners who will be announced in spring 2014.

The winners of the previous edition were:

• Dr. Gitte Neubauer (Co-founder and Vice-President for Research Operations of CELLZOME - recently acquired by GlaxoSmithKline) whose ground-breaking research into chemo-proteomics is driving her company's work on new, better targeted drugs against inflammatory diseases and cancer;
• Fabienne Hermitte (Co-founder IPSOGEN, Senior director, Research and Development – Regulatory Affairs) whose work made her company a pioneer in personalized healthcare diagnostics, which allow more individualized treatments for cancer patients; and
• Ilaria Rosso (Co-founder ELECTRO POWER SYSTEMS, Vice- President of IP Policy and Public Funding Programmes) whose company developed the first self-recharging hydrogen fuel cell system for backup power - a clean, renewable alternative to lead-acid batteries and diesel generators.

Further information:

The EU Women Innovators Prize was launched in 2011 to give public recognition to outstanding women entrepreneurs who brought their innovative ideas to the market.