The B&C Private Foundation will present the Houska Prize in the Higher Education Research and Research & Development in SMEs categories for the 16th time. With a total of EUR 500,000 shared between the winners, the Houska Prize is Austria’s largest private prize for application-led research.
The deadline for submissions for the 2021 Houska Prize was March 31, 2021.The projects entered in the two categories "Higher Education Research" and "Research & Development in SMEs" were evaluated in a two-phase process by the members of a high-level advisory commitee and an internationally respected expert jury. Out of 61 submissions the best 10 projects - 5 for each category - were selected for the final. The public can also vote for their favorite project, the online voting for the audience prize will start on August 30, 2021. The award ceremony will take place on September 23, 2021.
The B&C Private Foundation’s Houska Prize for Higher Education Research is awarded in recognition of outstanding applied research projects. State universities nationwide, the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the Institute for Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), private universities and universities of applied sciences are invited to apply.
List of higher education institutions
Submission criteria for the Higher Education Research category
Assessment criteria for the Higher Education Research category
Exceptionally innovative research achievements by small and medium-sized enterprises in Austria are honoured in the Research & Development in SMEs category of the Houska Prize. The prize money is intended to give the recipients the greatest possible freedom and flexibility when it comes to their future research activities.
EU definition of small and medium-sized enterprises
Submission criteria for the Research & Development in SMEs category
Assessment criteria for the Research & Development in SMEs category
Projects are evaluated separately for each category in a two-phase process: the members of the high-level advisory committee will propose the final ranking, which will then be reviewed by a respected international expert jury. The advisory committee makes use of external assessors to provide a sound basis for evaluating the submissions.
All of nominees in both categories – Higher Education Research and Research & Development in SMEs – are eligible for the audience prize. In each category, the project attracting the most votes and not ranked in first or second place by the expert jury is declared the winner. All the winners will be announced at the award ceremony on 23 September 2021.
