PhD student Elli Magkouta, a member of our research group, took part in the 2026 Merck Innovation Cup, an international summer competition hosted by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
Each year, Merck invites students from around the world to spend a week developing innovative business ideas in fields spanning life sciences, drug discovery, and advanced materials. Participants are placed in teams, guided by experienced professionals, to turn innovative ideas into convincing business plans, which are then pitched to a jury of senior researchers and industry experts.
Elli joined the Advanced Electronic Materials team, working alongside students from different scientific backgrounds. One of the biggest challenges was learning to think beyond the science itself: how to build an innovative research idea and shape it into something a company would actually want to invest in and turn into profit. Their hard work paid off: the team was named 1st Runner-up, earning a shared prize of €5,000.
Beyond the prize, the Innovation Cup gave Elli the chance to network with top students worldwide, attend workshops, and gain insight into how research moves from the lab to the market within a major international company.