Who We Are Innovation Vesalius Innovation Award
Innovation
 

Vesalius Innovation Award

by Karger Publishers

APPLY NOW

Are you at the cutting edge of scientific advancement? Karger Publishers is launching the annual 2024 Vesalius Innovation Award and invites innovative entrepreneurs like you to participate.

The VIA celebrates outstanding medical advancements and innovations from young entrepreneurs and start-ups. This is a unique opportunity for exposure and gives science’s future leaders the chance to take their ideas to the next level.

Our prestigious award is inspired by surgeon Andreas Vesalius and his 1543 publication, De Humanis Corporis Fabrica. With this body of work, Vesalius revolutionized anatomy and elevated typography and illustration, laying the foundation for future generations to explore the human body from an entirely new perspective.

Now in its fifth year, the 2024 VIA anniversary edition invites qualified applications from entrepreneurs in science communications.

Do you have what it takes to spark the scientific revolution?

Focus

Our focus this year will include the following topics, but that doesn't mean you have to cover all of them.

 

Science Communications

Illustration Science Communications

Science communication simplifies complex scientific concepts for diverse audiences, fostering understanding, engagement, and trust. At the Vesalius Innovation Award, we honor advancements in science communication that empower individuals with knowledge, promoting informed decision-making.

 
Illustration Science Communications
Artificial Intelligence

Revolutionizing science communication by harnessing the power of AI to enhance the dissemination and understanding of complex scientific concepts.

Illustration Education
Education

Empowering individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate science’s complexities, fostering a culture of curiosity and informed decision-making.

Illustration Information Transfer
Information Transfer - from the Lab to the Public

Bridging the gap between scientific discoveries and public understanding by making complex research accessible and engaging for broader audiences.

 
Illustration New Business Models
New Business Models in Publishing

Exploring innovative publishing techniques to transform the dissemination of scientific knowledge and enhance the accessibility, affordability, and impact of research findings.

Illustration Research Integrity
Research Integrity

Upholding trust and credibility in science communication by ensuring honest and ethical inquiry and dissemination.

 

Rewards and Prizes

 

The overall winner will be awarded a prize of USD 15,000 and two runners-up USD 5,000 each. The top five startups will profit from media coverage, mentoring by experienced experts or Karger employees and will be present at the live pitching event and the award ceremony.

 
 

1st Runner-Up

USD 5,000


Winner

USD 15,000


2nd Runner-Up

USD 5,000

 

Winner

USD 15,000


1st Runner-Up

USD 5,000


2nd Runner-Up

USD 5,000

Award Journey

Find out about every step from applying to winning.
 
Submit Pitch
Fill out the application form and submit your startup's pitch deck until August 2024. Five startups will be nominated by Karger and the jury for the subsequent stages.
Get Mentoring & Support
Beginning from November you will be participating in the mentoring and knowledge program.
Attend Final Pitch
In December the nominated startups will be offered the opportunity to pitch at an international event in Central Europe.
 
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

Application

 

What can you do to spark our interest?

We would like your pitch deck to be short and catchy rather than long and detailed. This also means that the number of slides should not exceed 10-15. Your pitch deck should be in English.

If you are going to be selected as one of the top five, you will need to submit a more detailed description of your business model. Before you apply, be sure that you have read and comply with our Terms and Conditions.

Apply now

 

Jury

 

Who is it that is going to assess and mentor you and who is finally going to choose the winner of this year's Vesalius Innovation Award by Karger Publishers? Find the jury and mentors listed below.

 
 
Portrait Dan Atar

Professor Dr. med., Dr.med.h.c. Dan Atar
Professor of Cardiology and Head of Research, Dept. of Medicine, Oslo University Hospital

 

"Innovation is the dynamic mindset that is driving the medical field forward and into spearheading new technologies. The Vesalius Innovation Award is an important platform to feature potential breakthrough developments for future pathways of innovative success."

Portrait Jignesh Bhate

Jignesh Bhate
Founder & CEO, Molecular Connections

 

"Innovation fuels and drives growth of any company. Even at 3000 people, MC’s has a start-up mindset - bubbling with fresh and sometime radical ideas pioneering thought leadership. We believe innovation fuels growth and helps maintain leadership. Through the Vesalius Innovation Award, we would like to encourage innovative start-ups which has potential to make economic and environmental impact."

 
 
Portrait Stephanie Dawson

Stephanie Dawson
ScienceOpen CEO

 

"The satisfaction of seeing our ideas take shape and become reality has been my biggest motivation. Each new user, customer or funder is an affirmation of that vision. I am honoured to be part of the Vesalius Innovation Award to support start-ups in that process from idea to product."

Portrait Daniel Ebneter

Daniel Ebneter
CEO, Karger Publishers

 

"In 2024, scholarly publishing is facing unprecendeted challenges. All players should join forces to ensure research integrity in the long term and facilitate the best use of AI-based tools in a highly dynamic world. The Vesalius Innovation Award by Karger Publishers is a vehicle for that, making startups and their solutions visible and accessible to the community."

 
 
Portrait Kate Gardner

Kate Gardner
Co-founder scientifyRESEARCH

 

"Continuous innovation in open science and healthcare is indispensable for propelling humanity forward. Drawing from my years of experience working with hospitalized children, I understand the profound correlation between innovation and quality of life. I am grateful to Karger Publishers for initiating this award program to empower inventive and determined start-up founders poised to solve today's challenges. I am honored to be on this year's Jury."

Portrait Phill Jones

Dr Phill Jones
Co-founder, Digital and Technology, MoreBrains Cooperative

 

"I've spent much of my career at the intersection of scholarly communication and innovation. As a former physicist and biomedical researcher, I'm very aware of the power of information technology to both disrupt the status quo in health sciences, improve practice and ultimately save lives."

 
 
Portrait Hylke Koers

Hylke Koers
Chief Information Officer, STM

"I'm passionate about applying new technologies to improve scholarly communication and strengthen what I believe to be its lasting core values: quality, integrity, discoverability, and accessibility. What excites me in particular is when a step-change in technology opens up new applications that were just not possible, or even thinkable, before. The Vesalius Innovation Award has demonstrated that it can put the spotlight on start-ups that do exactly that, which makes me excited and honored to be on the jury panel."

 
 

Testimonials


  • "Participating in the Vesalius Innovation Award was a game-changer for us. It's a unique platform where the research and publishing community meets innovation in healthcare, offering a real chance to make a difference. I encourage anyone with a vision for better healthcare to step forward."

    John Klepper – Co-Founder and CEO of Pipra


  • "The entire preparation generally and the proceedings in London were organized very well. I was particularly happy that we were regularly updated, and kept continuously up to date in the weeks between the online pitch and the finale. I also found the idea of the mentoring very good, and it has already given us good input for the next steps.
    For us the event was truly a great experience from the beginning to the end and we would definitely recommend other start-ups to apply for the next round. It was a very valuable experience for us and the attention has also given rise to many interesting new contacts in the past days."

    Patrick Starke – Co-Founder of ImageTwin


  • "It was a really great honor to receive recognition for innovation in publishing in the form of the VIA prize. This recognition from Karger, showing that the trend is moving toward reproducibility and quality, puts new wind in our sails! We look forward to a great year continuing to focus on tools that improve the quality of manuscripts."

    Anita Bandrowski – CEO of SciScore


  • "We are honored to receive this VIA prize and we enjoyed this experience immensely! Participating in the VIA Award provided us the opportunity to refine our pitch and make new connections. We are grateful to Karger for recognizing the importance of open science and innovation. Holding the VIA competition at the STM Start-Up Fair was perfect. How fun to step out from behind our computers and speak with people about our open research funding database. The enthusiasm for what we're building was a great source of inspiration!"

    Judy Mielke and Kate Gardner – Founders of ScientifyRESEARCH


  • "We at Nested Knowledge are honored to receive the first place of the VIA award. We see publishers as key to our vision of making scientific communication dynamic and engaging and value Karger Publishers' support in bringing our solution to the scientific community."

    Keith and Kevin Kallmes – Founders of Nested Knowledge


  • "The organisation was flawless, friendly and effective. We received relevant feedback in preparation for each step and were offered the opportunity to further interactions if needed. I had a great time with the VIA!"

    Francesco Mazzotta – CCO and Co-Founder of Pilloxa


  • "I would highly recommend that any life science startup enters the Vesalius Innovation Award. CiteAb entered in 2021 and we found the process very straightforward and we received excellent support from the Karger team. The chance to pitch to the expert judges was really valuable and the recognition we received and contacts we made have had a lasting positive impact on our business."

    Andrew Chalmers – CEO of CiteAB

     

    Sponsors & Partners

    Karger Publishers thanks its sponsors and partners for the many generous contributions for the Vesalius Innovation Award.



     
     
    Startup Academy Logo
     
    Molecular Connections Logo
     
    STM Logo
     

    Contact

     

    If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:

     
     
     
    Portrait Marc Schindelholz
    Marc Schindelholz
     
    Portrait Silvan Haefeli
    Silvan Häfeli
     
    Portrait Michael Schäfer
    Michael Schäfer
     
    Portrait Elke Arend-Heidbrinck
    Elke Arend-Heidbrinck
     
     
     
     
    Portrait Victoria Telebar
    Victoria Telebar
     
    Portrait Nadine Schläfli
    Nadine Schläfli
    Portrait Matheus Graziano
    Matheus Graziano
    Portrait Axel Oehler
    Axel Oehler
     
     

    VIA Video

    Do you have what it takes to spark the revolution?


     

    FAQ

     

    Who can take part?

    Early-stage startups with a focus on publishing and science communications. The startup should not be older than five years. The company does not necessarily have to be already registered but this should be in planning. The team must include at least one person aged 18 or older.

    How to apply?

    For the first application you will need to fill out the application form and send us your pitch deck. The pitch deck should be in PDF format and we recommended that you include 10-15 slides. The startups are expected to take part in the award ceremony and a digital live pitching event.

    Who is responsible for the selection?

    The selection of the five leading startups will be done by a team of selected and experienced Karger employees and the jury members. The final decision will be made by the jury.

    Will there be media coverage?

    Yes of course! We will be very active on social media and various media channels. And we are planning follow-up stories about the winners.

    What will happen with my data and how will it be processed?

    Data received will be used exclusively for processing the award. Access will only be granted to selected Karger employees and members of the jury. We will not forward your data to third parties without formal permission.

    When and how will I be notified if I'm one of the "Best Five"?

    We will notify the winning companies by post, email or phone in November.

    Will travel expenses be covered?

    Karger intends to support the startups to attend the final event. Up to what extent will be decided on an individual basis. Mentoring and support will be provided mainly in a digital format.

    Am I supposed to sign any documents?

    Upon application, you are required to accept our Terms and Conditions. If selected as one of the best five startups, you may be required to sign further documents.

    Where can I find the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy?

    You will find the information about our Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy on our website.

    What kind of mentoring will be provided? By whom?

    Mentoring will be provided by selected Mentors and Karger employees. As each startup faces different challenges, we will adapt mentoring to meet your needs.

    Does Karger invest in or partner up with startups?

    Yes we do. Check out Karger's innovation page and contact us directly: .

     

    #VesaliusInnovationAward

    VIA 2023

    Find all information about the award ceremony of the Vesalius Innovation Award 2023.
    Get to know our five finalists and the winners and check out the pitching events and the award ceremonies from this year.

    Winner & Runners-Up

     

    Pipra is the winner of this year's Vesalius Innovation Award by Karger Publishers.
    The systematic review startup managed to beat off competition from other innovative business ideas in the Health Sciences publishing sector.
    The runner-up prize is being awarded to two startup companies: Ludenso and Teraquiz.

     
     

    Ludenso

    USD 5,000


    Pipra

    USD 15,000


    Teraquiz

    USD 5,000

     

    Ludenso

    USD 15,000


    Pipra

    USD 5,000


    Teraquiz

    USD 5,000

    Interview with Winner Pipra

     
     
     
     

    Our Finalists

     
    globalcampus logo
     
    GlobalCampus Global Campus uses state of the art semantic AI technology to find the best academic content matching your input. Using a summary as your starting point, you will find relevant literature, academic expertise, institutions for collaboration or journals for submission. With Global Campus you navigate the knowledge of the world in seconds, either through our platform or integrated in your systems using our API.
     
     
     
     
    ludenso logo
     
    Ludenso Ludenso pioneers augmented reality (AR) technology, empowering subject experts to create immersive and engaging learning experiences. By infusing traditional educational materials with 3D animations, AI-driven quizzes, and multimedia content, Ludenso revolutionizes how complex concepts are communicated and understood. This innovative approach addresses the critical issue of healthcare workforce shortages by making medical training more attractive, accessible, and effective, ensuring a steady influx of skilled professionals to meet the growing healthcare demands.
     
     
     
     
    paindrainer logo
     
    Paindrainer offers a digital self-management tool for chronic pain patients powered by an proprietary artificial neural network that is adaptive to patient behavior and provides recommendations on how to adjust daily routines to alleviate pain. It can be offered via Hospitals as a remote monitoring device.
     
     
     
     
    pipra logo
     
    PIPRA is a visionary MedTech start-up based in Zurich, Switzerland, pioneering the development of innovative AI-driven products to address the prevention, prediction, and diagnosis of delirium. Their flagship product, PIPRA (Pre-Interventional Preventive Risk Assessment), offers a user-friendly web and app-based interface for healthcare professionals to accurately assess a patient's risk of developing postoperative delirium (POD). By integrating PIPRA into clinical workflows, healthcare providers can implement targeted preventive strategies, optimize resource allocation, and enhance patient outcomes, particularly for patients aged 60+ undergoing medium to high-risk elective surgery.
     
     
     
     
    teraquiz logo
     
    Teraquiz Teraquiz represents the new era of medical education: digital, accessible at your fingertips, with excellence. Our mobile app is tailor-made for Oncology, Rheumatology, Hematology, Urology, Dermatology, and Radiation Oncology specialists. It offers up-to-date article reviews, a community for discussing challenging cases, evidence-based quizzes, and video content. We aim to disseminate high-quality medical information in Brazil, Portuguese-speaking nations, and Latin America, closing the educational gap.
     


    VIA 2022

    Find all information about the award ceremony of the Vesalius Innovation Award 2022.
    Get to know our five finalists and the winners and check out the pitching events and the award ceremonies from this year.

    Winner & Runners-Up

     

    ImageTwin is the winner of this year's Vesalius Innovation Award by Karger Publishers.
    The systematic review startup managed to beat off competition from other innovative business ideas in the Health Sciences publishing sector.
    The runner-up prize is being awarded to two startup companies: ScientifyRESEARCH and SciScore.

     
     

    ScientifyRESEARCH

    USD 5,000


    ImageTwin

    USD 15,000


    SciScore

    USD 5,000

     

    ImageTwin

    USD 15,000


    ScientifyRESEARCH

    USD 5,000


    SciScore

    USD 5,000

    Interview with Winner ImageTwin

     
     
     
     

    Our Finalists

     
    alviss logo
     
    alviss.ai develops AI software to assist scientists and publishers in the scientific article reviewing process. Our software provides a toolkit for users to optimize any article and streamline the publication process.
     
     
     
     
    imagetwin logo
     
    ImageTwin is the solution to detect manipulations and duplications in figures of scientific articles. By comparing the figures with a database of existing literature, problematic images will be identified within seconds for all relevant image types, including blots, microscopy images, and light photography.
     
     
     
     
    Prophy Logo
     
    Prophy believes that fair, transparent and efficient peer-review lies at the foundation of all good scientific research. As an organisation founded by scientists for science, they use Artificial Intelligence to power automated expert finder, delivering independent reviewers who can review any manuscript from any discipline, ensuring you can trust in the science you read.
     
     
     
     
    SciScore Logo
     
    SciScore is a scientific content checker / validation tool that verifies common rigor criteria (NIH, MDAR, ARRIVE) and research resources (antibodies, cell lines, organisms). SciScore uses text mining techniques to perform this critical validation in minutes, providing a report to the editors, reviewers, or authors about criteria that have and have not been addressed.
     
     
     
     
    scientifyresearch logo
     
    scientifyRESEARCH is an open access, curated and structured research funding database to connect researchers with research funding information. Our database covers global funding across all disciplines and all career stages.
     


    VIA 2021

    Find all information about the award ceremony of the Vesalius Innovation Award 2021.
    Get to know our five finalists and the winners and check out the pitching events and the award ceremonies from this year.

    Winner & Runners-Up

     

    Nested Knowledge is the winner of this year's Vesalius Innovation Award by Karger Publishers.
    The systematic review startup managed to beat off competition from other innovative business ideas in the Health Sciences publishing sector.
    The runner-up prize is being awarded to two startup companies: CiteAb and Pilloxa.

     
     

    CiteAb

    USD 5,000


    Nested Knowledge

    USD 15,000


    Pilloxa

    USD 5,000

     

    Nested Knowledge

    USD 15,000


    CiteAb

    USD 5,000


    Pilloxa

    USD 5,000

    Live Pitches of Our Finalists

     
     
     
     
     
    Appsens Logo
     
    Appsens is a medical technology company behind the innovative and wireless heart monitoring device ECG247.
     
     
     
     
    CiteAb Logo
     
    CiteAb is a life science data provider that helps researchers and their suppliers make more informed decisions.
     
     
     
     
    Nested Knowledge Logo
     
    Nested Knowledge is transforming the process and impact of systematic reviews and meta analyses through a web-based collaborative software which automatically generates interactive data visualizations.
     
     
     
     
    Pilloxa Logo
     
    Pilloxa provides a tech, regulatory, and legal platform to create living mobile applications to engage with and learn from patients.
     
     
     
     
    Sorcero Logo
     
    Sorcero's language intelligence platform delivers the next generation of AI-powered analytics for understanding scientific and medical content at scale.
     


    VIA 2020

    Find all information about the award ceremony of the Vesalius Innovation Award 2020.
    Get to know our five finalists and the winners and check out the pitching events and the award ceremonies from this year.

    Winner & Runners-Up

     

    Magma Learning is young, sparking with innovations, and the winner of this year's Vesalius Innovation Award by Karger Publishers.
    The E-Learning startup managed to beat off competition from other innovative business ideas in the Health Sciences publishing sector.
    The runner-up prize is being awarded to two startup companies: Scholarcy and Scite.

     
     

    Scholarcy

    USD 5,000


    Magma Learning

    USD 15,000


    Scite

    USD 5,000

     

    Magma Learning

    USD 15,000


    Scholarcy

    USD 5,000


    Scite

    USD 5,000

    Award Ceremony

     
     
     
     

    Live Pitches of Our Finalists

     
     


     
    4D Interactive Anatomy
    “4D Interactive Anatomy combines the advantages of digital tools with real cadaver dissections. Tilt, rotate, and dissect specimens online, captured layer-by-layer with our novel, proprietary scanning technology. The platform is easy-to-use. Simply log in from your browser on any device - no software download needed. Simultaneous access for hundreds of students is set up in a few seconds. If you are looking for an alternative to the dissection lab or an online extension to it - we have the solution for you. Due to the pandemic, it is even more vital now to get online anatomy education right.”
     


     
    Magma Learning
    “MAGMA Learning's mission is to enhance the way we create and integrate knowledge thanks to our personal AI tutor, ARI 9000. Given any scientific book or article, ARI summarizes its content automatically and generates a series of relevant questions, using cutting-edge natural language processing. ARI then empowers readers to consolidate their knowledge efficiently by personalizing the learning process to their knowledge levels, interests, and memory abilities. Learning progress can be visualized and provides useful information to authors and editors to improve the quality of their contents.”
     


     
    MediFind
    “When it comes to health, nothing is more valuable than time. That's why we created MediFind, the world’s most advanced platform for helping people living with health conditions - from the very rare to the most widespread - find better care, faster. MediFind is the first platform in the world to integrate health information from dozens of disparate medical datasets then make that information understandable to patients. Using our proprietary (and patented) algorithms and our team of medical experts, we translate this information so patients and their families can more easily understand it and take effective action. And we are freely available to any patient, caregiver, or family - no walled gardens here. The result: better care, faster, for everyone.”
     


     
    Scholarcy
    “Scholarcy is a UK based technology company applying machine learning to extract structured data and knowledge summaries from scholarly content. Researchers use Scholarcy to identify and verify the key findings and sources from research papers. Publishers and aggregators use the Scholarcy API to create rich metadata from documents in any format and to support the publishing process, from manuscript screening to review, publication, and promotion. University communications teams use Scholarcy to generate lay summaries from complex articles to promote their research output.“
     


     
    Scite
    “scite is a Brooklyn-based startup that helps researchers better discover and evaluate scientific articles through Smart Citations. Smart Citations allow users to see how a scientific paper has been cited by providing the context of the citation and a classification describing whether it provides supporting or disputing evidence for the cited claim.”