Science Award 2026: Research driving retail forward

When science, start-ups and retail come together, some of the most exciting new ideas for the industry emerge. This exchange is exactly what the Science Award, presented by the EHI Foundation and GS1 Germany as part of EuroShop 2026, aims to recognize.

The award honors outstanding academic work and innovative start-ups that develop concrete solutions for retail and the consumer goods industry. With a total endowment of €65,000, the prize is presented in three categories: Master’s thesis, dissertation and start-up.

Around 300 representatives from retail, industry and academia attended the award ceremony. The winning projects demonstrate how academic insights can provide concrete answers to current challenges in retail.

The start-up Turns from Ansbach University of Applied Sciences (Germany) was recognized for a digital platform that enables transparent and scalable textile recycling processes along the entire value chain. In the dissertation category, Dr. Julian Felix Kopka and Dr. Lennart Borgmann from the University of Wuppertal (Germany) explored how attention is generated in digital advertising – with clear findings supporting a "smartphone-first" approach to retail communication.

In his Master’s thesis at ETH Zurich (Switzerland), Justin Eymann analyzed how virtual reality applications influence consumer decision-making, opening up new opportunities for immersive retail experiences.

The Science Award highlights how closely research and retail practice are now interconnected. The awarded projects illustrate how academic insights can translate directly into new technologies, sustainable business models and innovative customer experiences in retail.