For the first time in the history of the UNIQUE ideas competition, there are two winning teams in 2017. In the Researchers/Graduates category, the jury selected the team "Nebula Labs" led by Dr Jörn Winter and Dr Ansgar Schmidt-Bleker from the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. (INP Greifswald) and the team "RNAREF" led by Prof. Dr. Andreas W. Kuss and Dr. Lars Riff Jensen from the Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genome Research at the University of Greifswald. A total of seven finalists presented their ideas to a jury of experts on 20 June 2017.
The jury selected the most innovative concepts in two categories. These were then awarded cash prizes for start-up financing at the award ceremony. "This year, the concepts were once again an impressive mix of knowledge and ideas developed by the students and researchers themselves in their respective fields," said Dr. Seiberling, Head of the Centre for Research Promotion and Transfer at Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald.
Nebula Labs has set itself the goal of bringing a revolutionary disinfection process to market. Instead of harsh chemicals, they rely on plasma – an ionised gas – which they bring into contact with water. Using their invention, a patent-pending plasma process, they produce a powerful disinfectant. This is generated on site from air, water and electricity using an easy-to-manufacture device. The effective components of the disinfectant liquid produced break down again after a few minutes into
harmless components. The process is suitable for a wide range of applications, from disinfecting assembly lines and food packaging to surface disinfection in hospitals and hygienic hand disinfection.
RNAREF – The team aims to develop reference material for next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based RNA analysis. When using NGS technologies, technical verifiability is particularly important in order to identify method-related influences on the quality of the results obtained and to achieve reliable results. This is made possible by the use of suitable reference or control materials, which are carried through the entire process or introduced directly at various points during the procedure. Standardised reference materials are not yet available, which makes it much more difficult to compare and verify the corresponding results. NGS applications have already been included in the catalogue of billable health services offered by health insurance companies, and efforts are underway to develop solutions for this aspect of quality control. The aim of the planned project is therefore to develop suitable marketable products for NGS analytics.
Third place went to the team led by Elias Beetz, a graduate of the University of Greifswald, with Plain Truth. The PlaTr app is designed to enable people to quickly, entertainingly and anonymously collect statistics on topics that are important to them. This can be done in the PlaTr community among all users, but also in communities provided by companies. There, the topics would be more company-specific, access would be exclusive if necessary, and PlaTr would be paid for providing the app.
In the student category, this year's winners were Daniel Hingst, Niels Gulecke and Xenia Valero Schönhöft won first prize with their idea Law Clinic Greifswald (student pro bono legal advice for refugees and others in need), and Tom Grüneberg and Jennifer Cordes won second prize with their idea superfamilyfood (healthy food for super babies, super kids, super mums and super dads).
The ideas competition was first held in 2006 to support students, researchers and employees at the University of Greifswald in developing their ideas through to the establishment of a company. Since 2013, the project has been funded by ESF funds from the state and carried out in collaboration with INP Greifswald. The ideas range from software and technology solutions to quality seals and services to medical products. The UNIQUE+ business plan competition will follow in November this year.
UNIQUE is supported in a special way by Sparkasse Vorpommern, Denkfabrik Stralsund GmbH and the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald. The prize money for the UNIQUE Ideas Competition 2017 was also sponsored by INCI-experts Hamburg, Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Vorpommern mbH, MLP Greifswald, BioCon Valley M-V e.V., WITENO GmbH and Hardtke • Svensson & Partner. Other sponsors of the competition are the Neubrandenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce for eastern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Regional Economic Initiative East Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania e.V. and ADVITAX Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH, Greifswald branch.
