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Munich, GermanyJune 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced the 12 finalists for the 2026 European Inventor Award, honoring inventors whose innovations help address the world’s most pressing challenges. This year’s finalists span fields including biotechnology, healthcare, renewable energy, semiconductors, digital technology, food technology, quantum technology, rail transport, and advanced manufacturing.
The winners of the 2026 European Inventor Award will be revealed during a live-streamed ceremony in Berlin, Germany, on July 2, 2026.
2026 Finalists
The finalists in each award category are as follows:
Industry
- Giuseppe Crippa†, Roberto Crippa, Stefano Felici, Riccardo Vettori, Raffaele Vallauri, Flavio Maggioni, and their team from Italy, for developing a method for rapid localized production of semiconductor probe cards.
- Evangelos Eleftheriou and his team from Switzerland and Greece, for groundbreaking advances in digital storage technology, covering innovations in magnetic storage and flash memory.
- Angeliki Triantafyllou from Greece and Sweden, for developing a patented enzymatic process that improves the stability, texture, and functionality of oat-based beverages.
Non-EPO Countries
- Yu Haijun and Xie Yinghao from China, for developing a method to recycle and convert spent lithium-ion batteries into high-performance materials.
- Emily Morris from the United States and Thorsten Stoesser from Germany, for developing a modular hydropower system that actively directs water flow through turbines in existing canals to generate electricity.
- Aníbal Montalva Rodríguez and Miguel Ángel Fernández Donoso from Chile, for developing a living biofiltration system for purifying polluted air.
Research
- Sir Adrian Hill and his team from Ireland and the United Kingdom, for developing a highly effective malaria vaccine.
- Mikko Möttönen from Finland, for developing an ultra-sensitive cryogenic microwave sensor used to diagnose interference in quantum computers.
- Paula Videira and her team from Portugal, for developing the L2A5 antibody, which is highly specific in distinguishing cancer cells from healthy tissue.
SMEs
- Jan Čmelík and his team from the Czech Republic, for advancing needleless electrospinning technology to enable reliable industrial-scale nanofiber production.
- Przemek Ben Paczek and his team from Poland, for developing a magnetic levitation system that can retrofit existing railway infrastructure.
- Franck Zal from France, for developing a universal oxygen carrier based on marine worm hemoglobin, used for organ and tissue preservation.
Popular Prize and Lifetime Achievement Award
In addition to the category awards, all 12 finalists are also in the running for the Popular Prize, which will be determined through a combination of public voting and an independent jury selection.
Voting opens today and will continue until the awards ceremony on July 2, 2026.
Furthermore, the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award will be announced on June 10.