New! ASciNA Tech Innovation Award

Powered by TU Wien

Call for Applications

Turn Your Research into Real-World Impact

The ASCINA Tech Innovation Award supports innovators who are transforming cutting-edge research into tangible technological solutions with real market and societal impact.

Launched by ASCINA and powered by TU Wien, this award is designed for researchers, founders, and builders ready to take their ideas beyond the lab and into the world.

What This Award Is About

This is not a traditional academic prize. Instead of focusing on publications or citations, the ASCINA Tech Innovation Award recognizes:

Applied innovation over pure discovery
Real-world impact over theoretical contribution
Execution and scalability over early-stage research

If you are working on technology that is already validated and moving toward real-world use—this award is for you.

Who Should Apply

We are looking for individuals or teams who:

Are currently active in North America (or have been within the past five years)
Are Austrian or have a strong connection to Austria (through education, background, or professional work)
Are developing technologies at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 4–7
(validated concept to working prototype in a real-world setting)

Most importantly, you should be building something that has clear potential to scale and create meaningful impact.

What You Can Gain

Financial Support

€7,000 award to help you further develop, validate, or scale your innovation

Strategic Advantages

Access to a transatlantic network of industry leaders, investors, and founders
An IP crash course to strengthen your commercialization strategy
Visibility at the ASCINA Conference and selected events

How You’ll Be Evaluated

Applications are reviewed by an interdisciplinary jury with expertise in academia, industry, and venture ecosystems.

You will be evaluated based on:

Innovation – How advanced and differentiated is your technology? (30%)
Impact & Scalability – What’s the real-world potential? (30%)
Execution – How far along are you, and how well has it been validated? (25%)
Transatlantic Connection –
How does your work connect ecosystems across Europe and North America? (15%)