Two research teams from the Just Transition Center Halle have reached the finals of the From Lab to Market Challenge 2026. With their venture ideas FEINST and NextLayer, both teams are now competing in the final stage of a national challenge that supports researchers in developing scientific ideas into market-oriented business concepts.
The From Lab to Market Challenge brings together research-based innovation, entrepreneurial thinking and practical feedback from experts. It is aimed at teams that want to take ideas beyond the laboratory and explore their potential for economic application.
For the JTC, the success of both teams is a strong signal: it shows how research from the university can open up new perspectives for innovation, transfer and regional value creation. It also reflects one of the central goals of the JTC — to translate scientific findings into practical innovations and to connect research more closely with society, business and the region.
The two JTC teams in the final are:
FEINST
represented by Maria Gaudig and Shixian Huang as well as their teamlead Haojie Zhang.
FEINST is developing a compact electrochemical cell with an integrated magnetic-field element. The approach aims to improve reaction conditions and increase efficiency in electrochemical applications.
NextLayer
represented by Sebastian Zimmermann, Oliver Wolf, their teamlead Torsten Hölscher as well as Matthias Maiberg as an additional team member.
NextLayer focuses on simulation and optimization software for thin-layer applications. The project addresses the need for better digital tools in the development and scaling of advanced layer technologies.
Both teams successfully pitched their venture ideas in the previous stage of the competition and have now made it to the final. This is already a strong achievement for the teams and for research-based transfer from Saxony-Anhalt.
Now everyone can contribute to their success: the public voting is open until 20th June and forms an important part of the final scoring.
With broad support from colleagues, partners and the wider innovation community, both teams can take the next step in the competition — and help make research-based venture ideas from Saxony-Anhalt more visible. So please consider to support the JTC teams here:
https://chemanager-online.com/en/award/from-lab-to-market-challenge/
Both teams are receiving intensive coaching throughout the whole process by Gabriel Kolar of our Transfer Incubator team.