European Research and Innovation Days 2020: Commission announces winners of the EU Prize for Women Innovators and the Horizon Impact Award

Today, at the European Research and Innovation Days, Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, announced the winners of this year’s edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators. Three winners will receive a €100,000 cash prize under Horizon 2020 for their achievements, namely: Madiha Derouazi, founder and CEO of Amal Therapeutics, a company in Switzerland developing therapeutic cancer vaccines; Maria Fátima Lucas, co-founder and CEO of Zymvol Biomodeling, a company in Portugal developing computer-designed industrial enzymes by applying molecular modelling; and, Arancha Martínez, co-founder and Managing Director of It Will Be, a company in Spain that helps tackle poverty through technological innovation and provides support to vulnerable women and children. In addition, one winner is awarded the Rising Innovator 2020 prize for an exceptional innovator under the age of 35 and will receive a €50,000 cash prize for her achievements, namely: Josefien Groot, co-founder and CEO of Qlayers, a company in the Netherlands that is developing microstructures to boost the efficiency of wind turbines. Commissioner Gabriel said: “It is a great privilege to be in a position to recognize such exceptional innovators. Today we shine a spotlight on inspiring women who are leading the charge in bringing life-changing innovations to the market. It is my hope that with this prize, our winners will go on to inspire many other women to create innovative businesses in Europe.” More information about the winners of the EU Prize for Women Innovators is available here. Furthermore, the Commission announced today the winners of the second edition of the Horizon Impact Award, a prize dedicated to EU-funded projects that have created societal impact across Europe and beyond. The winning projects, each of which will receive a €10,000 cash prize, have helped to reduce the CO2 footprint of numerous leading airlines; improved the quality of life for children with heart failure; used innovative technology to preserve threatened species in the Southern Ocean; digitally translated historical handwritten documents forming part of the European heritage; and, developed the first transparent display that is already in the market. More information about the Horizon Impact Award winners is available here.