Innovation Cup 2026

Job description: How it works: During a one-week Summer Camp, 42 selected students will attend indepth presentations about the pharmaceutical and chemical industry given by researchers and managers of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and its affiliates. The participants will be divided into teams, work together to develop a business plan and present it to a grand jury, who will award the Innovation Cup for the best plan along with a cash prize of EUR 20,000 plus EUR 5,000 and EUR 3,000 for the runner-ups. Options to implement the best business plans will be evaluated. A conference with alumni of previous Innovation Cup editions will be held on the first day of the Summer Camp. The Innovation Cup 2026 will comprise the following team topics: oncology, neuroscience & immunology, drug discovery, fertility, synthetic biology, smart facturing and advanced materials. Required profile: Who can apply: Advanced students and post docs in the fields of life science, material science, data science and business administration from all over the world can apply: • Sciences: Post graduate students on their way towards a PhD in biology, medicine, biotech, bioinformatics, data sciences, biochemistry, chemistry, pharmacy, physics or engineering. • Business: Advanced MBA students or recent MBA graduates with an interest in the pharmaceutical, chemical or digital business. Not open to healthcare professionals. Company description: About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. Around 63,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices - the company is everywhere. In 2023, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 21 billion in 65 countries. The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare and EMD Electronics in electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company What we offer: What's in it for me? If you are a post graduate student with an interest in the pharmaceutical, chemical or digital industry, the Innovation Cup is your chance to gain in-depth knowledge about research and development, to network with top students from around the world and to build a business case together with experienced professionals. Selected top performing participants could get an offer for a permanent employment at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. As a participant in our Innovation Cup, you get a chance to network with top students from around the world, work in teams to develop new innovative ideas for unmet customer needs, and build a business case with support from experienced professionals. We are offering shared prizes of €20,000 for the winning team, €5,000 for the runner-up and €3,000 for third place. Selected top performing participants could get an offer for a permanent employment. And to make things even more interesting, options to implement the best business plans will be evaluated. Further information about the program and how to apply online from November 1, 2025 until January 31, 2026: The Innovation Cup summer camp takes place 8-14 August 2026, near Frankfurt, Germany. Your travel, accommodation and food expenses are paid for by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Location: New York, New York, US

Posted Date: 11/7/2025