Innovative Ideas Awarded Winners of the hei_INNOVATION Ideas Competition 2025 Announced
May 27, 2025
published by hei_INNOVATION
As part of this year’s IMPACT DAY at Heidelberg University, the winning projects of the hei_INNOVATION Ideas Competition 2025 were announced on May 14, 2025. With the competition, the university’s transfer agency aims to showcase creative and practical ideas from the research and student community that address societal challenges and possess transfer potential. In three thematic categories – Sustainability and Smart Living, Social Innovation, and Health and Future Tech – three projects were awarded in each. The final round of the competition took place on IMPACT DAY 2025 as a public pitch event, with the award ceremony held during the Ignition Night in the evening.
In the category “Sustainability and Smart Living,” the team iClimate impressed with an innovative building solution: Temur Ismadiyarov, Helen Tran, and Laurenz Horn developed the “ProX” system, which integrates heating, cooling, air purification, and insulation into thin wall modules, enabling energy-efficient and sustainable construction methods. Second place went to Claudia Quitmann with KliMeG, an emissions calculator for hospitals that supports targeted climate protection measures. Third place was awarded to Hannes Schwab with Heat Stroke, an AI-based application for predicting heat strokes – a contribution to climate change adaptation and preventive healthcare.
The category “Social Innovation” was all about social participation. First place was secured by Christoph Blattgerste, Christoph Maier, Nikolai Bolik, and Klaudia Rzezniczak with Stadtlabor, an AI-powered chatbot that makes complex administrative documents accessible and understandable – especially for students. In second place followed literallySCIENCE, represented by Nadja Roßner and Eva Hasel de Carvalho, an educational project that empowers young people to solve real-world problems using scientific methods. Third place went to Johannes Butscher with Klartext, an app that translates administrative language into plain German – an important tool for promoting informational equity.
In the category “Health and Future Tech,” first place was awarded twice: Julius M. Kernbach, MD, won with Brain Cancer, a project for more precise treatment of glioblastomas using AI-supported imaging, which makes invisible tumor-brain networks visible and enables more accurate therapies. He shares the award with Vincent Paul, Preet Shah, Maximilian Vassen, and Tiago da Trindade, who developed Phoenix, a universal cell therapy designed to be more affordable, faster, and more effective against solid tumors. Phoenix also won the Audience Award, which was voted on during Ignition Night at IMPACT DAY. Third place went to Alexander Kovacevic et al. with the Fetal HeartApp, an app that supports expectant parents after the diagnosis of a heart disease in their unborn child while simultaneously assessing counseling success to subsequently develop novel standards, also making use of artificial intelligence.
The hei_INNOVATION Ideas Competition 2025 once again impressively demonstrates how interdisciplinary collaboration and creative approaches can make concrete contributions to the challenges of our time. The awarded projects are not only testimony to scientific excellence but also promising impulses for shaping society’s future.
