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PRESS RELEASE: Novaled, IAPP and Technical University of Dresden honoured
German Physical Society honours successful transfer of know-how
Dresden, Germany, 07.03.2016
From basic patents to successful products – Technical University of Dresden (TUD), the TUD Institut für Angewandte Photophysik (Institute for Applied Photophysics, IAPP) and Novaled GmbH have been honoured by the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (German Physical Society, DPG), the largest professional association of that kind in the world, for their particularly successful, sustainable technology transfer. The "DPG-Technologietransferpreis" (DPG Technology Transfer Award) will be presented for the first time ever at the 80th annual meeting and spring meeting of the DPG in Regensburg on 7 March 2016.
"The DPG award honours these three institutions because they succeeded in developing scientific findings in the field of technologies and organic materials for the commercial production of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in an outstanding way," the DPG jury explained their selection. Novaled GmbH, spin off from TUD IAPP, has specialised in improving the performance of OLEDs, organic solar cells and other organic electronics with great international success. The company is the sole supplier of doping materials for the mass production of OLED displays. In fact, Novaled PIN OLED® technology has become a quasi-industry standard. The technologies and materials from Dresden can be found today in most of the world’s smartphones, tablets and televisions using an OLED display.
"The Technology Transfer Award is a great confirmation of our work," said Novaled Founder and CSO Dr Jan Blochwitz-Nimoth. Novaled is a good example of the success of the "Dresden model" followed by TUD when forming spin-offs: For comparatively reasonable pricing, successful scientists are given the rights to the know-how that they developed at the university. The secured patents, R&D co-operations as well as further assistance from the university network offers them the best chances of finding investors and bringing their product ideas to market.In the case of Novaled, the technologies were developed at the IAPP at TUD. The researchers doped (‘vaccinated’) certain layers in OLEDs and other organic electronics with materials that make them more performant and energy-saving. The company that resulted from this approach, Novaled, has gone on to develop further technologies and materials and was able to increase the originally purchased 5 basic patents to more than 500. The company was so successful that it has grown from 4 founders to 140 employees in 2014 with revenues of 42.3 million euros (2014).
"I am extremely happy about this award," said Professor Karl Leo from IAPP at TUD. "It shows once more how much long-term oriented basic research pays off and can lead to very successful applications". The TUD scientists had already planted the seed for the award-winning technology transfer in the 1980s. After the reunification of Germany, Professor Leo and his research colleagues were able to revive and accelerate their research on organic electronics. The result has been a number of spin-offs from the TUD, including Novaled GmbH in the year 2001.
About Novaled
Novaled GmbH is a leader in the research, development and commercialization of technologies and materials that enhance the performance of OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) and other organic electronics. Novaled offers OLED product manufacturers a unique combination of proprietary technology, materials and expertise, and is currently the only company in the OLED industry licensing and selling organic conductivity doping technology and materials for use in the commercial mass production of display products. Novaled has developed strategic partnerships with key OLED innovators and producers throughout the world and, with a broad portfolio of more than 500 patents granted or pending, has a strong IP position in OLED technologies, structures and materials. Novaled is headquartered in Dresden with offices in Asia. Since end of 2013 Novaled belongs to Samsung.
www.novaled.com
About Technical University of Dresden and IAPP
The TU Dresden is one of eleven German universities that were identified by the German government as an ‘excellence university’. As a modern full-status university with 5 schools, it offers a wide academic range making it one of the most diverse universities in Germany. The Institut für Angewandte Photophysik (IAPP) was founded in 1908 and it is involved in field of organic semiconductors since 1985. The IAPP has broad experience in the investigation of physical properties of organic molecules, and their application in organic optoelectronic devices, such as organic light-emitting diodes and organic solar cells. Nowadays, it has more than 130 employees. The IAPP has an excellent international reputation; it initiated several industrial spin-off companies. The IAPP is the core basic research laboratory of the Organic Electronics Saxony (www.oes-net.de), Europe’s largest organic electronics cluster. www.tu-dresden.de, www.iapp.de
About DPG
The German Physical Society (DPG), with a tradition that goes back to the year 1845, has over 62,000 members and is the largest physics association in the world and the oldest German professional association. As a non-profit association, it has no economic interests. The DPG promotes the transfer of knowledge within the scientific community through conferences, events and publications, and strives to open a window for all who are curious about physics. The head office of the DPG is in Bad Honnef, while representation in the German capital is the Magnus-Haus in Berlin. www.dpg-physik.de
Press contact:
Anke Lemke
Tel: +49 (0)351 796 5819
Email: anke.lemke@novaled.com
07/03/2016