The Dörte Wörner Innovation Grant is aimed at university members or alumni (up to 3 years after graduation, the cut-off date is the date of the start of funding) of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Stuttgart and Berlin School of Economics and Law who are in the early stages of developing an innovative, knowledge- or technology-based entrepreneurial business idea in the field of computer science.

Founders (teams) are to be supported in the transition from an initial entrepreneurial idea to a validated business idea. The goals are in particular

• Improving the quality and development planning of their start-up ideas (sharpening customer and market orientation, structuring the project in terms of time)
• Improving the presentation of the project to potential investors
• Increasing the probability of success in obtaining follow-up financing for the project
• Increasing the probability of a successful market entry and a successful business start-up

The applicant has no legal entitlement to a grant. The grant is subject to the availability of the estimated funds.

Funding is available for innovative, knowledge- or technology-based start-up projects in the field of computer science by individuals and start-up teams from the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Stuttgart and the Berlin School of Economics and Law.

The funded project receives a one-off grant of between 500 and 5000 euros, depending on the amount applied for and the funds available

Applications are open to individual founders and founding teams who are in the early stages of developing an innovative, knowledge-based entrepreneurial business idea in the field of computer science. At least one of the eligible team members must be a university member or alumni (up to 3 years after graduation, the cut-off date is the date of the start of funding) of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Stuttgart and Berlin School of Economics and Law.

It is possible to apply for funding at any time. The following information must be provided in an informal letter (max. three pages):

• Contact information
• Information about the founding team
• Name of the idea
• Outline of the idea

Submissions should be made via the z.a.i - Centre for Applied Computer Science e.V. via the following contacts:

• Prof. Dr Markus Döhring
• Prof Dr Michael von Rüden
• Prof Dr Stefan Rapp

The submitted project will be evaluated by experts from the z.a.i - Centre for Applied Computer Science e.V. on the basis of the idea outline. The evaluation is based on the following criteria: Customer benefit, market opportunities, feasibility, relation to the university and degree of innovation. The degree of innovation criterion is given special consideration and is weighted twice.

Ideas that are selected are invited to a 10-minute presentation. The reviewers then make the final decision on eligibility for funding

Each applicant agrees that his/her name and a short description of his/her idea as well as images may be used in press, media and social network coverage.

Successful applicants agree to present their idea in the context of press work (social media/website etc.) after prior consultation.

Successful applicants also agree that contact details (name/phone number/email address) of the participants may be passed on in the event of enquiries from press representatives addressed to z.a.i. - Zentrum für Angewandte Informatik e.V. concerning the ideas/teams. The participants can thus be contacted by press representatives

Each applicant agrees that his/her data may be stored and used for the purpose of processing and implementing the funding and beyond (e.g. for alumni work).

2020

1st prize: Johannes Maeß

IBM Research / DHBW Stuttgart Query optimisation with DBMS

The developed prototype allows database systems to efficiently and precisely estimate the cardinality of queries. These cardinality estimates increase the performance of the entire system.

2nd prize: Tobias Spahn

Bindewald & Gutting Verwaltungs-GmbH / h_da Digital sealing

Nowadays, some goods need to be protected not only against theft but also against tampering. The system developed guarantees that the goods have not been tampered with during transport.

2019 (two prize winners)

Lisa-Marie Rosendorff and Marie A.C. Steinbrügge (graduates of the Interactive Media Design study programme at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences)

Amon is a modular system that helps autistic children lay the foundations for an independent life. They are dependent on increased guidance from their parents, as their developmental disorder makes it more difficult for them to learn practical everyday processes and skills than neurotypical children of the same age. Amon was created to counteract this dependency. It helps parents to divide the processes to be learnt into individual components and thus guides the autistic child towards structured learning.

Elina Faber, Sarah Lerch, Jan Meininghaus and Domenika Tomasovic (students on the Interactive Media Design study programme at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences)

The semester project "You" is an interactive installation for users of social networks who are unaware of the mass of personal data generated and its potential for misuse.

The intelligent environment confronts and shocks social network users with their masses of data and tries to inspire them to think. The team wants to win over security companies, museums and exhibitions as buyers in order to reach as many people as possible.

2018

Daniel Träder and Maximilian Madl (h_da computer science graduates), Hendrik Amler (h_da computer science student), Julian Wingenfeld and Johannes Noll (TU Darmstadt Industrial Engineering and Business Informatics students) with "Digital Ident"

The founders want to revolutionise identification on the Internet with the help of existing online banking entry requirements, allowing people to have their identity confirmed online in real time, for example to open a new bank account, deal with the authorities or take out a mobile phone contract. Digital Ident saves the customer having to go to the post office or go through a time-consuming video identification procedure.

2017

Fabian Köbel and Martin Mitkov (students on the "Embedded Systems" dual study programme) with "Flying_Elephant".

"Flying" stands for the drone, which can reach any position while flying, and "Elephant" for spraying paint with a trunk. In combination, the device can paint any wall and, thanks to its innovative control system, achieve such a high level of precision that it can even create exact paintings.

2016

Koorosh Karimi, Tobias Klüh and Simon Swoboda (Bachelor's students of computer science) and Dr Ali Saifnejad (lawyer and management consultant) with "Travelier".

Travelier offers an online platform for the worldwide dispatch of all kinds of movable objects (documents, parcels, etc.). The C2C logistics concept aims to provide an alternative to conventional shipping methods that enables both private and business people to send parcels worldwide, e.g. by travellers, commuters and professional courier services.