European Inventor Award 2026 Finalists Revealed – EPO
12-May-2026
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Source : The European Patent Office (EPO)
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• Twelve teams and individuals from Europe, Asia and the Americas have been selected as finalists across the ‘Industry’, ‘Non-EPO Countries’, ‘Research’, and ‘SMEs’ categories
• The winners will be announced by the European Patent Office during the award ceremony on July 2, 2026 in Berlin
• The finalists’ inventions address major challenges across industries and countries
• Public voting for the Popular Prize opens today and will be running until the ceremony on July 2, 2026
MUNICH - The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced the 12 finalists for the European Inventor Award 2026, recognizing inventors whose work is helping address some of the most critical global challenges. This year’s finalists have developed inventions spanning sectors including biotechnology, healthcare, renewable energy, semiconductors, digital technologies, food technology, quantum, rail transport and advanced manufacturing, according to the official website of EPO.
Selected by an independent international jury, the finalists represent a broad range of technical fields and countries. Their inventions highlight how science, engineering and entrepreneurship can contribute to more sustainable societies, stronger healthcare systems and a more resilient economy.
The winners of the European Inventor Award 2026 will be announced during a livestreamed ceremony from Berlin on July 2, 2026.
The 2026 finalists
The 2026 finalists come from China, Chile, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The finalists by category are:
Industry
• Giuseppe Crippa†, Roberto Crippa, Stefano Felici, Riccardo Vettori, Raffaele Vallauri, Flavio Maggioni and team from Italy for a method for the rapid, local production of semiconductor probe cards.
• Evangelos Eleftheriou and team from Switzerland and Greece for advances in digital storage technologies spanning magnetic storage and flash memory.
• Angeliki Triantafyllou from Greece and Sweden for a patented enzymatic process that improves the stability, taste and functionality of oat-based drinks.
Non-EPO Countries
• Yu Haijun and Xie Yinghao from China for their method to recycle spent lithium-ion batteries into high-performance materials.
• Emily Morris and Thorsten Stoesser from the United States and Germany for a modular hydropower system that actively channels water through turbines in existing canals.
• Aníbal Montalva Rodríguez and Miguel Ángel Fernández Donoso from Chile for a living biofilter system to clean polluted air.
Research
• Sir Adrian Hill and team from Ireland and the United Kingdom for a highly effective malaria vaccine.
• Mikko Möttönen from Finland for an ultrasensitive cryogenic microwave sensor to diagnose interference in quantum computers.
• Paula Videira and team from Portugal for L2A5, a highly specific antibody that distinguishes cancer cells from healthy tissue.
SMEs
• Jan Čmelík and team from the Czech Republic for advancing needle-free electrospinning technology for reliable, industrial-scale nanofibre production.
• Przemek Ben Paczek and team from Poland for a magnetic levitation system designed to retrofit existing railway infrastructure.
• Franck Zal from France for a universal oxygen carrier based on haemoglobin derived from marine worms to preserve organs and tissues.
Popular Prize and Lifetime Achievement
In addition to the category awards, the 12 finalists above will all be eligible for Popular Prize that will be decided through a combined vote by the public and an independent jury. Voting opens today and will run until the award ceremony on July 2, 2026. Additionally, the Lifetime Achievement award winner will be announced on June 10, 2026.