Award Framework
How to Apply
The ELRIG Innovation Award celebrates pioneering ideas and technologies that have the potential to transform drug discovery and address major clinical challenges. Applicants are invited to submit a short video presentation outlining their innovation and its potential impact.
Video Submission Requirements:
Applicants must submit a video of no more than 2 minutes describing their innovation. Your video should cover the following points:
- Why your science is innovative
- The scale of the clinical or research challenge you are seeking to address
- The potential impact of your innovation on the research / patients
- Next steps and the capacity of your team or business to execute
These core themes reflect the judging criteria used by the panel.
Video format:
- Maximum duration: 2 minutes
- Orientation: Landscape or portrait
- Ensure the audio and visuals are clear
- A simple backdrop is recommended and may include your company logo if desired
Videos longer than the allotted duration may be rejected.
Tip: Keep your message clear and engaging – imagine you are pitching your innovation to the drug discovery community.
How to Submit
There are two ways to submit your video:
Option 1 — LinkedIn
Post your video on your LinkedIn wall before 28th August 2026 using the hashtag: #ELRIGInnovationAward
Option 2 — ELRIG Video Wall
Upload your video directly to our online platform before 28th August 2026: Submission link: my.walls.io/ELRIGInnovation?create-post=true)
Submission Deadline
All videos must be submitted before 28 August 2026, late submissions may not be accepted.
Judging Criteria
Judges will evaluate submissions against the following criteria:
- Innovation and science
- Scale of challenge / clinical need
- Does the innovation address a gap in the market
- Team or business readiness
- Commercialisation route and strategy
- Overall clarity and strength of the story
The winner will be notified week commencing 21 September 2026.
The prize
The winner will be invited to:
- Deliver a 10-minute presentation at Drug Discovery 2026 Day 1 Auditorium 1
- Present their innovation to the conference audience
- Prepare accompanying presentation slides for the talk
- Receive patent attorney support (equivalent to £15,000)
- Receive 2 hours of graphic design and website support (equivalent to £264)
- Breakthrough Zone stand cost refunded (£500)
Runners Up
20 companies will be offered a 5-minute flash presentation in the Breakthrough Zone Theatre on Day 1.
People’s Choice Innovation Award
Once submissions close, all eligible videos will be published on the ELRIG Innovation Award wall for public voting.
Public voting will take place: 1 – 13 September 2026. Votes will be based on likes per post.
The Prize
The prize is 10-minute talk on Day 1 in the Breakthrough Zone Theatre and patent attorney support (to the equivalent of £5,000).
| Competition | Innovation Award Competition and People’s Choice Innovation Award hosted by ELRIG UK |
| Promoter | ELRIG UK Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, with company number 05440961 Address: Salisbury House, Station Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB1 2LA, United Kingdom Phone: 07860 892944 Email: sanj.kumar@elrig.org
|
| Competition Period | Start Date: 09:00 BST 13th April 2026 End Date: 23:59 BST 21st Septmeber 2026 |
| Conference | ELRIG Drug Discovery Annual Conference 14-15 October 2026 ExCeL, London, UK |
| Prize | The Prize is: ELRIG’s Innovation Award
People’s Choice Innovation Award
|
| Competition Area | Worldwide |
| Entry Procedure | To enter the Competition Entrants must:
Entrants must enter the Competition in their own name and will be required to provide all mandatory information that may include, but is not limited to, the Entrant’s full name, residential address, job title, date of birth, email address and contact telephone number. |
| Judge Details |
Location: ELRIG UK Method: Selection by judging panel, for phase 1 |
| Redemption Date | 15th October 2026 |
| Prize Delivery Time | The Promoter will contact the winner w/c 21st Sept 2026. The Prize will be made available by 15 October 2026 |
| Privacy Notice | Privacy Policy – ELRIG |
Terms & Conditions
Information on eligibility, mechanisms on how to enter, prizes and the information in the Schedule form part of these Terms. Participation in the Competition is deemed acceptance of these Terms. Any capitalised terms used in these Terms have the meaning given in the Schedule, except where stated otherwise.
Eligibility & Entry
1. Entry is open to confirmed applicants of the Breakthrough Zone at Drug Discovery 2026 conference aged 18 years or over (Entrants). Employees, immediate family members, retailers, suppliers, associated companies and agencies related to the Promoter are not eligible to enter in the Competition.
2. To enter the Competition, Entrants must prepare and send a video
- (a) of no more than 2 minutes long, filmed landscape orientation, with plain background, a company logo may be featured.
- (b) of their own original work, and has not been generated, enhanced or in any way assisted by artificial intelligence;
- (c) detailing the scale of the challenge they are seeking to meet, explaining why their solution is innovative. What would the impact of the innovation be on the challenge and what are the next steps and capacity of the business to execute.
Entries may only be submitted in accordance with the Entry Procedure and will not be accepted by the Promoter in any other form. Any submissions of videos which do not meet the requirements will not be considered.
3. The Entrant represents and warrants that any opinions or views expressed in its video belong solely to the Entrant, and must not be attributed to the Promoter or any of their Competition partners.
4. Entries must be received by the Promoter during the Competition Period. Online entries are deemed to have been received at the time of receipt by the Promoter and not at the time of transmission.
5. Videos entries that are incomplete or files that are unable to be opened/play will be deemed invalid. Entries will also be deemed invalid if they breach these Terms as determined by the Promoter, fail to meet the requirements of the requested video or any other content guidelines notified by the Promoter during the Entrant’s completion of the Entry Procedure.
6. The Promoter reserve the right, at any time, to verify the validity of entries and Entrants (including an Entrant’s identity, age and place of residence) and to disqualify any Entrant. Failure by the Promoter to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights.
Judging
7. Judging to determine the winning Entrant for the Competition will be conducted in accordance with the Judge Details. The Prize will be awarded to the Entrant in accordance with the judging criteria, provided the Entrant has complied with the Entry Procedure.
8. The winning Entrant will be notified by email and/or telephone as soon as practicable after judging, using the telephone number or email address provided with the Competition entry.
9. The Promoter must either publish or make available information that indicates that a valid award took place. To comply with this obligation the Promoter will send the surname and county of The Prize winner to anyone who emails the Promoter’ email addresses in the Schedule or writes to the address set out in the Schedule (enclosing a self-addressed envelope) within 1 month after the End Date.
10. If the Entrant objects to any or all of their surname, county and winning Entry being published or made available, please contact the Promoter using the address details in the Schedule. In such circumstances, the Entrant acknowledges that the Promoter must still provide the information and winning entry to the Advertising Standards Authority on request.
11. Entrants are responsible for any and all expenses incurred when entering the Competition and accessing, claiming and/or using the Prize (unless otherwise stated on the Site).
12. As the Competition is a game of skill, the determination of the winning Entrant will be judged by a judge or panel member who is clearly independent from the Promoter and its intermediaries and from the pool of Entrants. The judge or panel member will be competent to judge the Competition and their full names are available on request by an Entrant to the Promoter.
13. In the event that a winning Entrant’s entry is deemed or found to be invalid, the Promoter may redraw or decide on another winning entry.
Prizes
14. The Prize is specified in the Schedule. THE PRIZE IS NOT TRANSFERRABLE AND NOT REDEEMABLE FOR CASH BY THE WINNING ENTRANT.
15. If any Prize is unavailable and the Promotes have done everything reasonable to arrange the Prize, the Promoter may, in their absolute discretion, reserve the right to substitute the Prize with a prize of equal value and/or specification, subject to any written directions from a regulatory authority. The Promoter may not substitute a Prize for a cash alternative.
16. Where the Entrant is entering the Competition from outside of the United Kingdom, the Entrant acknowledges and agrees that it will be solely responsible for arranging its own requirements to enter the United Kingdom and attend the Conference, including any visa and passport requirements. The Entrant acknowledges and agrees that the Promoter will not be responsible for supplying the winning Entrant with any visa invitation letter or similar documentation.
17. If the Conference is cancelled, postponed or abandoned for any reason, the winning Entrant will forfeit all rights to attend the show or event and no cash or alternative tickets will be substituted in lieu.
Claiming Prizes
18. The Prize must be claimed by the Redemption Date in accordance with any claim instructions set out in the Schedule. The Promoter may require the winning Entrant to provide relevant evidence in order to claim the Prize, such as proof of identity, age, and any relevant proof of purchase.
19. If any winning Entrant does not claim the Prize before the Redemption Date, the Prize will be deemed to be forfeited by the Entrant.
20. If any Prize remain unclaimed in accordance with clause 22, a second draw or selection for the Prize (Unclaimed Prize Draw), will take place on the first business day after the expiry of the Redemption Period at the same time, place and manner as the original Draw Details, subject to any directions from a regulatory authority. The alternative winning Entrant, if any, will be notified by email and/or telephone within 48 hours of the Unclaimed Prize Draw.
21. Entrants agree to participate in post-Competition publicity as reasonably required by the Promoter, including attending the Conference, and allowing publication of their winning Eligible Article in media published by the Promoter or their Competition partners.
Intellectual Property
22. The Promoter does not claim any rights of ownership of an entry
23. The Entrant agrees that the Promoter may, but are not required to, make an entry available on its website and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity of the competition. The Entrant agrees to grant the Promoter an exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, sublicensable and transferable licence, for the full period of any intellectual property rights in the competition entry and any accompanying materials, to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sub-licence the competition entry and any accompanying materials, including the video for such purposes.
24. The Entrant warrants that the video is the original work of the Entrant, and the Promoters use of the video as contemplated by these Terms will not infringe on the rights of any third party, including any intellectual property rights.
25. The Entrant acknowledges and agrees that by submitting a video to the Competition, the Entrant is granting the Promoter and their Competition partners with exclusive rights to publish and otherwise distribute the winning video. For the abundance of clarity, this means that the Entrant must not allow their video to be published on, or distributed via any other mediums.
General
26. Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999: Notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms, nothing in these Terms confers or is intended to confer any right to enforce any of its terms on any person who is not a party to it.
27. Privacy: Please see the Promoters Privacy Notice (linked in the Schedule) for more information about how the Promoter collect, store, use and disclose personal data.
28. Laws not excluded: Nothing in these Terms limits, excludes or modifies or purports to limit, exclude or modify any legislation which cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
29. Liability: Neither the Promoter or the Entrant may benefit from the limitations and exclusions set out in these Terms in respect of any liability arising from its deliberate default. The restrictions on liability in these Terms apply to every liability arising under or in connection with this Agreement including liability in statute, contract, equity, tort (including negligence), misrepresentation, restitution, indemnity or otherwise. Nothing in these Terms limits any liability which cannot legally be limited, including liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by negligence; (b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (c) breach of the terms implied by section 2 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (title and quiet possession); and (d) defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
30. Subject to clause 29 (no limitation in respect of deliberate default and liability which cannot legally be limited), but despite anything else to the contrary, to the maximum extent permitted by law, neither the Promotor not the Entrant will be liable for any consequential loss, indirect loss, real or anticipated loss of profit, loss of benefit, loss of revenue, loss of business, loss of goodwill, loss of opportunity, loss of savings, loss of reputation, loss of use and/or loss or corruption of data.
31. Subject to clause 29, the Promoter (including its respective officers, employees and agents) will not be liable to an Entrant for, and the Entrant waives and releases the Promoter in respect of all liability (including but not limited to all expenses, costs, damages, claims, losses) arising in any way out of or in connection with:
- (a) any act or omission of an Entrant;
- (b) any breach of these Terms by the Entrant;
- (c) any personal injury or death or property loss or damage;
- (d) claiming the Prize;
- (e) use of the Prize in any way;
- (f) any theft of any Prize or unauthorised access or third party interference in the Competition;
- (g) any entry or Prize claim that is late, lost, altered, damaged, delayed, corrupted or misdirected (whether or not after their receipt by the Promoter) due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter; or
- (h) any tax liability incurred by a winning Entrant,
except to the extent such liability was caused or contributed to by the Promoters negligent act or negligent omission.
32. Force Majeure: Neither Party will be liable for any delay or failure to perform their respective obligations under this Agreement if such delay or failure is caused or contributed to by a Force Majeure Event. Force Majeure means any event or circumstance which is beyond a Party’s reasonable control including but not limited to, acts of God including fire, hurricane, typhoon, earthquake, landslide, tsunami, mudslide or other catastrophic natural disaster, civil riot, civil rebellion, revolution, terrorism, insurrection, militarily usurped power, act of sabotage, act of a public enemy, war (whether declared or not) or other like hostilities, ionising radiation, contamination by radioactivity, nuclear, chemical or biological contamination, any widespread illness, quarantine or government sanctioned ordinance or shutdown, pandemic (including COVID-19 and any variations or mutations to this disease or illness) or epidemic.
33. Online entries: In the event that a dispute arises as to the identity of an online Entrant, the entry will be deemed to have been submitted by the authorised account holder of the email address. The authorised account holder means the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organisation that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the email. The Promoter may ask any Entrant to provide the Promoter with proof that such party is the authorised account holder of the email address associated with the entry.
34. Legal Warning: Any attempt, deliberate or otherwise, to cause malicious damage or interference with the normal functioning of the Site, or the information on the Site, or to otherwise undermine the legitimate operations of the Competition may be a violation of criminal and civil laws and, should such an attempt be made, whether successful or not, the Promoter reserve the right to seek damages to the fullest extent permitted by law. If the Promoter suffer loss or incur any costs in connection with any breach of these Terms or any other legal obligation by an Entrant, the Entrant agrees to indemnify the Promoter for those losses, damages and costs.
35. Currency: Unless the contrary intention appears, a reference in these terms or in any advertisement relating to the Competition, to pounds or £ is a reference to the lawful currency of the UK.
36. Amendments: These Terms may be amended or replaced from time to time if required by any regulatory authority.
37. Jurisdiction: These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Entrants submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
38. Entire Agreement: These Terms represent the entire agreement between the Promoter and any Entrant (including the winning Entrant) with respect to its subject matter and supersede any prior agreement, understanding or arrangement between the Promoter and any Entrant (including the winning Entrant), whether oral or in writing.
39. Representations: The Promoter exclude all warranties, guarantees or representations (whether express or implied) except as expressly provided in these Terms.
