ISC3 Innovation Challenge

They are assessed by a jury of international experts who score the Start-ups and choose the finalists. The finalists’ pitches and the award ceremony take place in autumn/winter.

The winners are awarded money prizes in two categories:

• Two Special Impact Awards for Start-ups that have a noteworthy impact on the environment and society.
• The overall Winner of our Innovation Challenge.

All the finalists receive a customized support of the ISC3 Global Start-up Service in form of pitch trainings and have the possibility to be featured as Start-up of the Month.

Subtopics of the ISC3 Innovation Challenge 2026

Key Focus Areas:

Innovation in Design & Performance: 

• Applying Eco-design principles: designing electronics for durability, repairability, recyclability, and modularity with focus on chemical and materials innovation
• Design for disassembly: using adhesives, coatings, and encapsulants that can be safely removed or chemically dissolved
• Reducing material intensity while maintaining performance
• Developing more sustainable solders, recyclable encapsulants, and solvent systems for safer assembly/disassembly

Innovations providing more resource efficient use or substitution of critical raw materials and toxic metal species: 

• Alternative technologies for scarce and critical elements and critical nonrenewable resources (see Annex I a.) for details)
• Use of abundant, non-toxic, recycled / recyclable feedstocks

Sustainable Manufacturing Approaches: 

• Low-energy, low-waste fabrication methods (solution processing, additive manufacturing, green solvents)
• Designing scalable, safer chemical routes generating less waste
• Sustainable alternatives to hazardous reagents and byproducts (including additional technologies) (see Annex I b.) for details)
• Development of biodegradable electronic components using polymers and organic materials
• Addressing social issues including child labor, unsafe working conditions, and other forms of injustice

End-of-Life & Circularity: 

• Chemical methods for disassembly, selective separation, and recycling
• E-waste recycling and recovery of valuable materials 

• Electrochemical recycling of materials in electronics (e-waste recovery of metals like Li, Co, Au)
• Mechanical or chemical recycling of plastic materials in electronics

• Use of recyclable, biodegradable materials or materials that undergo full mineralization at end of life
• E.g. biomaterials based, biodegradable conductors and semiconductors 

• Closed-loop systems
• Prevention of material dissipation

Alternative & Emerging Materials: 

• Organic and polymer electronics
• Advanced Materials for Electronics 

• 2D materials like graphene, MoS₂, and MXenes: Surface chemistry affects electronic and mechanical properties
• Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent-organic frameworks (COFs): Used in sensing, energy storage, and optoelectronic devices
• Self-healing or stimuli-responsive materials for flexible electronics

• Sustainable alternatives to fossil-based plastic materials used in electronics, e.g.:
• PVC for cables, insulation, flexible parts
• ABS for casings for computers, printers, TV’s, keyboards, etc.
• PS for insulation
• PC for optical discs, lenses, protective covers, LED

Novel devices: 

• More sustainable Energy Storage & Conversion Devices (Batteries, Supercapacitors, Fuel Cells)
• Organic Electronics, Photonics & Optoelectronics(OLEDs, OPVs, Perovskite solar cells, Photocatalytic devices )