For decades, the German Founder Award has been promoting entrepreneurial achievements and business ideas that are particularly capable of meeting the challenges of the future and sustainably changing entire industries. The award, which was established in 1997, is presented annually in the categories Student, StartUp, Newcomer and Lifetime Achievement. The jury has now once again selected founders whose business models challenge traditional methods. This year's winners include the bioeconomy start-up Traceless Materials.

Mistletoe branches are considered lucky charms in many places. Here, the white berried mistletoe (Viscum album) with its white berry fruits is particularly widespread. It grows on deciduous trees such as birches, poplars or apple trees and is considered a semi-parasitic plant because it extracts water and the mineral salts it contains from the host plant. The white berries of mistletoe have now attracted the interest of materials scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPIKG) in Potsdam.

Germany wants to become climate-neutral by 2045, and greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 65% as early as 2030 - this is what the German government has stipulated in the new Climate Protection Act. To achieve this ambitious goal, production processes must also become more sustainable - for example, in the manufacture of hydrogen. It is seen as the energy carrier of the future. However, production is very energy-intensive. Partners from science and industry now want to tackle this problem.

From sausage spreads to cold cuts or burgers: plant-based sausage and meat alternatives are now part of the standard range in many supermarkets. However, they are still the exception on the menus of German restaurants. That could soon change. After the Netherlands and the UK, Singapore-based food tech startup Next Gen Foods, led by German co-founder Timo Recker, is now launching its plant-based chicken brand TiNDLE in Germany.

Methane from biogas plants is supposed to be a more climate-friendly alternative to natural gas. However, besides methane, carbon dioxide is also produced in the biogas plant. Although this is biogenic and therefore less problematic than CO2 from fossil sources, these emissions must be avoided if global warming is to be limited to 1.5 degrees. Fraunhofer researchers have developed a process for this, which they now want to scale up step by step.