The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has partnered with the BioInnovation Institute Foundation (BII), based in Copenhagen, Denmark, to launch the new BII & Science Prize for Innovation, which will recognize researchers who ask fundamental questions at the intersection of life sciences and entrepreneurship.
The prize will be awarded to scientists who have reached across disciplinary boundaries to leverage outstanding basic science with an eye toward applications in the marketplace. The award winners will be determined based on a 1,000-word essay written by the applicant that describes research they performed. Every year, one Grand Prize winner and two runners-up will receive a cash prize, to be presented at an award show celebration in Copenhagen; their essay submissions will also be published in Science.
“It is important for our partners to share the same values and align with our mission to encourage more scientists to translate their research,” said Bill Moran, publisher of the Science family of journals. “The BioInnovation Institute Foundation (BII) is an organization that is passionate about nurturing early career researchers and providing them with the tools and knowledge to move their discoveries to the next stage – BII provides expert guidance that allows scientists to become innovators in research. This is the reason why we are proud of our prize collaboration with BII.”
The selected winner and runners-up will also have an opportunity to be paired with BII’s business development team, to evaluate their eligibility for BII’s programs. If eligible, they will receive assistance for submission of a proposal to BII. All processes, rules, and policies related to these programs and all obligations related to selection and granting thereof will be the sole responsibility of BII.
“In today’s society, entrepreneurial scientists hold the key to unlocking new life-changing solutions. I am very proud of initiating this new prize for innovation in collaboration with Science magazine, one of the world’s leading scientific journals,” said Jens Nielsen, Chief Executive Officer of BII. “The new BII & Science Prize for Innovation recognizes, encourages, and celebrates the work of entrepreneurial scientists by providing support in the early stages of their careers. Through the prize, we aim to bring more ideas to life and research to market for the benefit of people and society.”
Successful applicants will have made significant advances in producing results that were protected as intellectual property and licensed to a commercial entity – for example, proprietary drugs and biologics, diagnostics, therapeutic interventions, health care information technology, or new solutions for biobased production of fuels, chemicals, and foods. Submissions are welcome from those who take risks to address relevant and exciting questions with creative approaches, even if the outcome may be considered a negative result.
The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2021; the winner and runners-up will be announced in April 2022. More details, including eligibility and application procedures, can be found here: www.bii.dk/scienceprize
About the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 260 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement and more.
About the BioInnovation Institute Foundation
The BioInnovation Institute foundation (BII) is an international commercial foundation with a nonprofit objective supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. BII operates an incubator to accelerate world-class life science innovation that drives the development of new solutions by early life science start-ups for the benefit of people and society. BII, located in Copenhagen, Denmark, offers start-ups and early-stage projects within health tech, therapeutics, and bioindustrials state-of-the-art labs, vibrant office facilities, business development, start-up business incubation, access to high-level mentoring and international networks, plus unique funding opportunities of up to 1.3 million euro per start-up and 2.4 million euro per project. Since the inauguration of BII in November 2018, BII has awarded 35 million euros to 68 high-growth start-up companies. Read more at www.bioinnovationinstitute.com