News of January 30, 2026

Innovations that make a difference

HZDR honors pioneering research ideas at Transfer Day

With innovative approaches to cancer radiation therapy, metal recycling, and particularly energy-efficient AI computer chips, the winners of the HZDR Innovation Contest 2025 seek to contribute to a livable future. At the HZDR Transfer Day on January 27, 2026, they were honored for their imaginative works in the field of energy, health and matter.

The HZDR Innovation Contest is an internal competition organized by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), which has been supporting researchers since 2017 in further developing promising scientific ideas with high application potential. Its aim is to promote the transfer of excellent research into concrete applications, spin-offs, or collaborations with industry and society.

1st Place: Real-Time MRI-Guided Proton Therapy (€1,500)

First place in the HZDR Innovation Contest 2025 went to a research team led by Prof. Aswin Hoffmann from the HZDR Institute of Radiooncology – OncoRay. Together with Prof. Esther Troost, Head of the Department of Image-Guided Radiation Therapy, and scientists Dr. Sergej Schneider, Dr. Felix Horst, and Dr. Jörg Pawelke, the team has developed the world’s first prototypes enabling magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during proton therapy over the past few years.

Later this year, the researchers plan to deploy a so-called in-beam MRI for the first time as part of a clinical study conducted by the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden. This will allow tumors to be visualized directly in the irradiation position using one of the prototypes.

The team is currently working on a new prototype for in-beam MRI imaging. Such imaging would make it possible to synchronize the delivery of the proton beam with tumor motion during irradiation. This is particularly beneficial for tumors that are constantly moving due to breathing or digestion, as it can increase targeting precision while simultaneously sparing surrounding healthy tissue.

The innovative real-time MRI solution is considered a global novelty and can also be integrated as an add-on device into existing treatment rooms, as Hoffmann explains: “MRI provides unparalleled soft-tissue contrast combined with high spatial and temporal resolution. Moreover, unlike X-ray-based imaging, we do not introduce any additional radiation dose into the tissue.”

The research team sees strong global clinical demand and aims to establish a spin-off company with the vision of a ‘GPS-like’ solution for precision radiation therapy.

2nd Place: Environmentally friendly Magnetic Separation Process for Technology Metals (€1,000)

The runners-up in the HZDR Innovation Contest are pursuing a no less ambitious goal with their idea of a novel magnetic separation process for recycling technology metals. scientists Emma Pustlauk, Dr. Peter Boelens, Ali Hassan, and Franziska Strube from the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) at HZDR impressed the jury.

In combination with another environmentally friendly recycling process, they successfully competed in the SPRIND Tech Metal Transformation Challenge. The Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND) will provide the “WEEEfficient Team” with up to six million euros in funding over the coming years to test and further develop the proposed process for recovering technology metals from electronic waste.

3rd Place: Energy-efficient AI chips for smartwatches (€500)

A smartwatch capable of predicting heart attacks or epileptic seizures and automatically placing an emergency call in critical situations – HZDR scientist Dr. Helmut Schultheiß is working on this vision. To this end, he is conducting research into magnet-based computer architectures that could form the basis for highly energy-efficient AI chips.

This is just one of many potential applications of so-called reservoir computing, in which, unlike conventional neural networks, the entire system is not trained, but rather complex physical dynamics perform the actual computing work. This principle opens up a wide range of applications, especially in areas where artificial intelligence has been very energy-intensive up to now.

One of the central challenges of today’s AI systems is their high-power consumption. Data transfer to cloud storage in particular requires enormous amounts of energy. “Training AI models such as ChatGPT alone consumes as much energy as a nuclear power plant produces in half a year,” says Schultheiß, Head of the Spin Interaction and Control research group at HZDR. “And each new model requires even more computing power and thus even more electricity.”

To counter this trend, Schultheiß is pursuing a unique approach: AI hardware based on magnetic quanta, which is intended to operate more sustainably. Although several development steps are still necessary, the physicist is confident that magnet-based AI chips could reach initial applications within a few years.

Idea Track Winners still at an early stage

In addition to the main prizes, the best transfer projects that are still at an early stage were honored in the “Idea Track.” First prize went to Dr. Purvi Jain for a chromium-free metallic coating process. Second prize was awarded to Dr. Thomas Krause, who is developing a modular peptide membrane to filter micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals from wastewater. Third prize went to Gerda Techert for a recycling concept aimed at recovering rare earth elements from industrial wastewater.

The diversity and quality of the submissions clearly demonstrated how innovative strength can emerge when talent, curiosity, and team spirit come together.

Photo Gallery: Transfer Day and Award Ceremony

Contact:

Melanie Giebel
Technology Marketing at HZDR
Phone: +49 351 260 2062 | E-Mail: m.giebel@hzdr.de