Join the Innovation Cup Summer Camp

As a participant in their Innovation Cup, you get a chance to network with top students from around the world, work in teams to develop new innovative ideas for unmet customer needs, and build a business case with support from experienced professionals. Selected top performing participants could get an offer for a permanent employment. And to make things even more interesting, options to implement the best business plans will be evaluated.

Participating in the Innovation Cup is a unique professional development opportunity for students from life science, computer science and business administration with an interest in the pharmaceutical industry. The event brings together a promising new generation of talent with active researchers, members of senior management and accomplished retirees from their biopharmaceuticals division.

Topics

• The 2025 Innovation Cup will comprise teams working on the following topics:
  • Oncology
  • Neuroscience & immunology
  • Drug discovery
  • Green chemistry
  • Digital health
  • Smart manufacturing and neuro-inspired AI inference acceleration.

Benefits

• If you are a postgraduate student with an interest in the pharmaceutical, chemical or digital industry, the Innovation Cup will be your chance to gain in-depth knowledge about research and development, to network with top students from around the world, and to build a business case together with experienced professionals. A conference with alumni from previous editions of the Innovation Cup will be held on the first day of the Summer Camp. Selected top performing participants could get an offer for a permanent employment at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany or any of its affiliates.

Funding Information

• A EUR 20,000 prize will be awarded to the team that presents the most convincing business plan, plus EUR 5,000 and EUR 3,000 for the runner-ups. The Innovation Cup 2025 will take place near Frankfurt am Main, Germany (July 19 – 25, 2025). Travel, accommodation, and food expenses will be paid by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Eligibility Criteria

• Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany invites advanced students in the natural sciences, computer sciences, and business administration from all over the world to apply to participate in the Innovation Cup. 42 students will be selected:
  • Sciences: Postgraduate students in the natural or computer sciences on their way towards a PhD or working as a postdoc in biology, chemistry, physics, medicine, biotech, bioinformatics, biochemistry, pharmacy, informatics, computer science, data science, engineering, or related fields.
  • Business: Advanced MBA students or recent MBA graduates with an interest in the pharmaceutical, chemical or digital business.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Not open to healthcare professionals.

For more information, visit Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.