Eligible participants are natural persons of legal age who meet the following requirements:

Category I – Students and trainees

• Enrolled students at the University of Rostock
• For teams: at least one enrolled student at the University of Rostock
• Trainees from the Rostock area

Category II – Researchers, graduates & external participants

• Research assistants, doctoral candidates, postdocs (m/f/d) and professors at the University of Rostock (former members up to 5 years after leaving the university)
• Graduates of the University of Rostock who graduated no more than 5 years ago
• Members of participating non-university research institutes (former members up to 5 years after leaving) Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW),
  • Leibniz Institute for Atmospheric Physics (IAP),
  • Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT),
  • Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN),
  • Fraunhofer Institute for Large Structures in Production Engineering (IGP),
  • Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD),
  • Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIdF), and
  • German Aerospace Center (DLR)
  • Third parties interested in founding.

• The formal establishment of a company based on the submitted business idea must not have taken place at the time of registration for the competition.
• The idea must have been developed independently by the participants and must not infringe the rights of third parties.
• Several people can participate as a team. Ideas can be further developed in interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary teams, for example.
• Participation is confidential, i.e., the jury members sign a confidentiality agreement. The personal data of the participants and the competition entries will be treated confidentially by the organizer and will not be passed on to unauthorized third parties.
• Participants agree, after prior consultation, to present their idea as part of the award ceremony and to participate in public relations work. Participants also agree to the publication of the images and video recordings they create as part of the award ceremony.
• Competition participants are obliged to ensure that the data provided to them is treated confidentially. In particular, they are prohibited from passing on personal or other sensitive data of other participating teams to third parties without their consent.
• Participation in the competition implies acceptance of the conditions of participation stated here.
• The decisions made by the jury and the prize sponsors are final.