Established in 2005, the B&C Private Foundation’s Houska Prize was set up to promote business-related research and innovation. By awarding the prize, B&C’s goal is to help strengthen Austria as a business location while expressing its appreciation for the outstanding research work carried out in the country. With a total endowment of EUR 750,000 shared between the winners, the Houska Prize is Austria’s largest private award for application-driven research.
The Austrian research Oscars will be marking its 18th iteration next year with a new development: the 2023 Houska Prize will be extended to include a third category – Non-University Research – which will complement the existing categories Higher Education Research and Research & Development in SMEs. Submissions for the 2023 Houska Prize are online only and open between 1 September and 30 November 2022. Please note that the submission form is in German only.
The Higher Education Research category recognises the economic significance of applied research for Austria as a business location. It is open to state and private universities including universities of applied sciences as well as the Christian Doppler Laboratories, The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria).
Applicants are invited to make submissions for the new Non-University Research category of the Houska Prize for the first time. The category is open to non-university research institutions which are able to demonstrate a combination of exceptional research performance and research findings with economic significance for Austria as a business location.
Exceptionally innovative research achievements with a lasting economic impact by small and medium-sized enterprises in Austria are highlighted in the Research & Development in SMEs category. The prize money is intended to give the recipients the greatest possible freedom and flexibility when it comes to their future research activities.
The three categories – Higher Education Research, Research & Development in SMEs and Non-University Research – are evaluated independently of one another. Project submissions are evaluated in a two-step procedure by a high-calibre advisory board and an internationally recognised expert jury. The Advisory Committee engages external experts to provide a sound basis for evaluating the submissions. It proposes an initial ranking, which the expert jury makes a final decision on. Five projects are nominated in each category. The 2023 Houska Prize winners will be announced at a formal award ceremony on 27 April 2023.
