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NRW celebrates innovation: Professors receive prestigious prize!
Prof. Stark and Prof. Schmitt from HHU Düsseldorf receive the NRW Innovation Prize for significant contributions to research.
NRW celebrates innovation: Professors receive prestigious prize!
The award ceremony for the Innovation Prize of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) took place in Düsseldorf on September 8, 2025. This year the award was presented to two researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU): Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Holger Stark and Prof. Dr. Lutz Schmitt. NRW Economics Minister Mona Neubaur presented the prize.
Prof. Stark received the honor for his significant development of a new class of active ingredients for the treatment of glaucoma, a disease that affects around 800,000 people in Germany. If left untreated, glaucoma can lead to blindness. He conducts research at the Institute of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry at HHU and has developed an innovative combination of carbonic anhydrase and a novel histamine H3 receptor effect that shows neuroprotective effects in the eye. Prof. Schmitt was recognized for his role in founding the company Numaferm, which specializes in biotechnological processes for the production of peptides and proteins.
Awards and developments
Numaferm serves various market segments, including pharmaceutical, agricultural, veterinary and cosmetics. The innovation award winners have not only contributed to strengthening the innovative strength in NRW, but also to the development of practical solutions in the healthcare system and industry.
The NRW Innovation Prize has been awarded annually since 2008 to honor outstanding personalities for their contributions to innovation in North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition to Stark and Schmitt, Dr. Martin Schleef from PlasmidFactory GmbH and Dr.-Ing. Andreas Bremen from Co-reactive GmbH awards this year. All award winners demonstrate a high level of willingness to innovate.
The Innovation Prize is considered one of the most important awards in North Rhine-Westphalia to promote entrepreneurial spirit and creativity in the region.
Founding Prize NRW
Parallel to the award ceremony, the MUT – THE FOUNDATION PRIZE NRW 2025 was awarded, which took place for the 14th time this year. With total prize money of 60,000 euros, it is one of the most highly endowed competitions for founders in Germany. Participation was open to founders from North Rhine-Westphalia with initial entrepreneurial success, regardless of industry or economic sector.
Last year, numerous start-ups from various areas such as health, new technologies and food took part in the competition. The decisive criteria for the evaluation were the economic viability and willingness to innovate of the participants.
In recent years, NRW has created excellent conditions for innovation through a strong scientific landscape, large companies and dynamic medium-sized businesses. This was also emphasized by Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst, who is pursuing the vision of making NRW the first climate-neutral industrial country in Europe. The innovation prize and the start-up prize make a significant contribution to promoting these goals.